Love, Missions and Acacias
by NejiKikyoAnimeRose
Summary: ShinoNeji. Hyuuga Neji and Aburame Shino are sent on a mission that is more serious than they realize. A clan dispute escalates, a death tears a family apart, and unexpected love drives a lonely shinobi to the point of mass confusion. Please comment.
1. Chapter 1

The rain fell down, not hard, but not soft. The tall and silent Aburame walked down the streets of Konohagakure Village, hands in his pockets, sunglasses covering his eyes, despite the fact that there was no sun at all. He could feel his insects inside of him. They were his solace; his serenity. They kept him peaceful. They knew his troubles, and accepted them.

However, right now the Aburame boy had no troubles. He was content. He usually was. He crossed the bridge and stopped to look out at the calm stream below, the rain disturbing its surface and agitating it with ripples and sounds of water mixing with water. Shino was mesmerized. It was beautiful.

"Shino!"

Shino turned. His teammates, Inuzuka Kiba and Hyuuga Hinata approached him, followed by Yuuhi Kurenai, his team's sensei. They walked up to him and Kurenai smiled.

"Early as usual, Shino," she said. Shino nodded.

"God, how can you keep doing this?" the dog boy before him asked, swatting rain drops away, his white ninja dog, shying under his master's legs.

"Hm," was all Shino replied. Hinata was red in the face, as usual, looking down at her feet, her knees pointed inward to keep them from shaking.

"U-uh, I think what Kiba m-means to say, Shino, i-is that i-it's hard to understand why y-you would want to c-come here s-so early in the rain…" she said, her voice wavering. Shino wasn't worried as a stranger might have been. Hinata's voice always sounded like that. Shino surveyed her through his sunglasses.

"Well," he said in the indifferent voice he always used. "Why wouldn't I?" Hinata, thinking this was meant as some sort of critical remark, went bright tomato-red and couldn't stop her knees from shaking a little. Shino turned to Kurenai.

"What is our mission?" he asked. He was very straightforward. Kurenai smirked.

"As you all know," she began. "We haven't enough Jounin to assign to all of the A and S rank missions we keep receiving, so some of the Genin and Chuunin will have to step up to the task of completing some of these missions. That's what we're here about today." She paused and watched all of her pupils. She was surprised to see that even Kiba was rapt with attention. She continued.

"Unfortunately," she sighed. "Our team will have to be separated for a while. Kiba and Hinata, you will be escorting Asuma's team to the Land of Waves for a B rank mission. Shino and I will escort Team Gai on an A rank mission to the Land of Lightning. Does everyone understand that much?" Hinata and Shino nodded, but Kiba got angry.

"How come Shino gets to go on the A mission!?" he barked. "He's not that special!" Shino stood still, not showing it, but secretly annoyed by the dog-nin's actions. Kurenai rolled her eyes.

"Damn it, Kiba," she said. "You sound just like Naruto!" Kiba shut up, a growling noise still emanating from his throat. Shino turned back to his sensei.

"When are we getting briefed, Sensei?" he asked. Kurenai turned to him, a guilty look on her face.

"As soon as possible," she said sheepishly. "I apologize for the abruptness." Shino shook his head slightly, waving away the apology.

"Expecting the unexpected is what we, as shinobi do," he said.

"Well said, Shino," Kurenai said, smiling. Turning to the rest of the team, she said, "Alright, let's go." Hinata nodded and squeaked, "Hai! Kurenai-sensei!" Shino nodded, and Kiba just followed with a scowl.

The rain was safely outside and Neji felt immediately grateful at having escaped its wet touch. He and his teammates, Rock Lee and Tenten all followed their Sensei Might Gai up the round wide stairway to the Hokage's office.

"Come, my youthful students!" Gai shouted, his arm shooting above his head victoriously. "Let us see what divine mission our dear Hokage will present us with today!" Lee saluted and beamed as brightly and creepily as his idol/sensei.

"Hai! Gai-Sensei!" he shouted. Tenten giggled and shook her head. Neji just shook his head. The brunette prodigy did not normally approve of the behavior of his teammate and his sensei.

Team Gai continued to climb the Stairs of Youth, as Gai called them, until they reached the Hokage's Office of Passion, cleverly named by Lee who was immediately embraced by a sobbing Gai. Neji and Tenten stood by awkwardly as the mini Love Fest of Losers, accurately named by Neji, continued.

"Neji? Tenten?"

Neji and Tenten turned around and saw Kurenai and her team approach them. Immediately their eyes were drawn to the two green clad ninjas embracing before them. Kurenai raised her brow. She shook her head and stepped forward.

"Gai! Lee!" she called. "It's time to get briefed for our mission. You can do that after you come back alive."

"And where no one can see you," Kiba muttered to himself. Shino remained stoic, as usual. Hinata was red in the face, her mouth twitching slightly as if trying not to giggle. Neji and Tenten looked flat out embarrassed. Lee and Gai separated themselves, not at all perturbed by the now thick tension that filled the hall.

"Let us go!" Gai declared. Lee nodded exuberantly at his side and the two marched off, as though…as though…ah, DAMN IT!! I can't find a good descriptive term!! They're just too damn CREEPY! Ah, shit. I guess I should just continue, huh? Sorry 'bout that!

Anyway, team Kurenai and the rest of Team Gai followed, slowly regaining the composure they had lost during that slight episode.

As they approached the Hokage's office they heard something, every single one of them registering right away what it was.

"Come, on Granny, just tell me the mission already!!" came Naruto's loud voice from behind the closed doors that led to the Fifth Hokage.

"Damn it, Naruto!! Just shut up and wait until your teammates are here! Or are you just incapable of exercising enough self control to sit your ass still!!" Tsunade's voice replied, yelling just as loud, if not louder. Hinata went red at hearing Naruto's voice. Tenten muttered, "Oh no," to herself, while shaking her head. Shino seemed passive about it but Neji swore he heard a slight sigh escape the bug-user's lips, even from behind his collar. He had to bite his lip to keep himself from smirking. He completely shared the Aburame's feelings when it came to Naruto.

The group approached the door to the office and Gai knocked loudly.

"Finally!!" Tsunade shouted. "Get the hell in here!! I can't take this brat anymore!" Quickly, Kurenai and Gai ushered their students into the Hokage's office. The sight they saw did not surprise any of them in the slightest. Naruto, in all of his orange idiocy, stood with his hands on the Hokage's desk, leaning into her face. Tsunade was on her feet, her hands clenched into fists and resting on the other side of the desk, her face inches from his, her great blue eyes sparkling with frustration and irritation, her blonde hair swinging dangerously in front of her red face. Naruto snapped around as Kurenai, Gai and their teams entered from behind him. He looked them over. His eyes stopped on Kiba and they widened, as did the dog-nin's.

"You've got to be kidding!" Naruto shouted. "I have to go on a mission with him!?"

"Oh, and like going on a mission with you is going to be the time of my life!" Kiba shouted back at Naruto, seeming to forget what Kurenai had told him earlier. Tsunade's hand flew to her temple, angrily massaging it, a vein in her forehead threatening to burst.

"Shut up!!" she bellowed. Naruto and Kiba complied, but were staring daggers at each other. Hinata, Shino, Tenten, Lee, Neji, Gai and Kurenai stood to the side, looking quite awkward and surprised. Even Gai and Lee seemed to sense that intervention would only make the situation worse. They astutely remained on the sidelines while Naruto, Tsunade and Kiba fought it out.

A knock sounded on the door and Tsunade angrily shouted for the intruding party to enter. The doors opened and the young Yoshikawa Sai entered. She took one look around, raised her eyebrow and then asked, "Is everything alright?" Tsunade chose not to answer and Naruto returned his angry gaze to Kiba, who followed suit. Sai smirked.

"Oh, that's how it is," she said. "Well, anyway, I'm here for a mission, Hokage." She walked past Naruto and Kiba, turning to direct a look of amusement in their direction. She walked up to the very stressed Hokage and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Please tell me that those two are not going on a mission together," she whispered to the Hokage. Tsunade shook her head.

"They're not," she growled through clenched teeth. "Kiba and Hinata are going with Asuma's team and you, Naruto and Shino are accompanying Team Gai." She paused to steady her staggered and angry breathing. Sai patted her shoulder sympathetically, empathizing with what she was going through, as Naruto was on her team and thus, a daily problem for her.

"What about Sasuke?" Sai asked.

"He will be going with Kiba and Hinata to accompany Asuma," she said. She looked at Sai, momentarily forgetting about her problems with Naruto. "His injuries are doing much better and he's just so insistent about starting missions again as soon as possible. I'm worried about how it will affect him, and, to be frank, I debated about sending you with him and sending Naruto, Shino, and Kiba with Team Gai, but you are the only one who can keep Naruto in check and to send him and Kiba on a mission together would be…" she stopped and thought about what she was talking about, shuddering. "I don't even want to think about it!" Sai snickered, agreeing with Tsunade.

"But, you are going to send Kakashi-Sensei with him, correct?" she asked. Tsunade nodded.

"Yes, I am," she said. "They're going to need two Jounin as much as your group will. Will you please shut them up so I can explain the mission?" She gestured angrily to Naruto and Kiba who had started a furious argument about who knows what, and were getting steadily louder. Sai walked over to them, grabbed Naruto's and Kiba's collars, pulled them apart and then bashed their heads together. The fighting stopped instantly and both boys howled in pain, clutching at their foreheads.

"Sai, what the hell!?" Naruto shouted.

"Shut up, idiot, so the Hokage can explain the missions," Sai commanded firmly. Naruto shut up, but scowled. He turned to Tsunade.

"Well, get on with it, Granny!" he growled, his head still smarting. Tsunade decided not to voice the angry retort in her mind. Instead she took a deep breath and said, "Well, until Asuma's team, Sasuke and Kakashi get here I can't explain Kiba and Hinata's mission, so I ask you two to just wait patiently. I apologize for the delay." Kiba and Hinata politely waved the apology away, but Kiba looked thoroughly angry. Tsunade nodded and turned back to the others.

"However," she said. "Since all of you are here, I will proceed to explaining your mission." She paused and cleared her throat and then sat back down at her desk and picked up a very formal looking peace of paper and read.

"Your mission will be to escort a family of merchants to their village in the Land of Lightning." Naruto's face fell.

"What kind of a mission is that?" he complained. "I've gone on harder ones than this, believe it!" Tsunade glared at him.

"Will you let me finish!?" she shouted, losing her patience for a second time that day. Naruto folded his arms in a clear pout. Tsunade continued, the vein in her head throbbing threateningly.

"Now, this is an A rank mission," she clarified. "And is more than just that of a simple bodyguard mission." She looked up at the group before her. "These merchants are the targets of assassins." She was cut off once again by a loud shout from Naruto.

"Awesome!" he shouted. "We're going to be protecting them from assassins?" He broke off, quivering with excitement. Sai rolled her eyes and socked Naruto on the head. He opened his mouth in protest, but Tsunade cut him off.

"Don't say another word until I'm finished, Uzumaki!" she yelled, once again on her feet. Naruto was silent and she continued. "Your task is not only to defend them, but also to rid them of their problem. You are to destroy the assassinating party and ensure their permanent safety. Do you all understand?" Gai, Lee, Neji, Tenten, Shino, Naruto, Sai and Kurenai all nodded.

"Good," Tsunade said. "Then I shall summon your charges; Nagasani Yoshi and his wife Kiu, as well as their three daughters." She turned to her black-haired assistant and barked, "Shizune! Send in our visitors!" Shizune bowed and nodded.

"Hai! Hokage-sama!" She turned and hurried out the door, her little pink pig following at her heels. Everyone waited in awkward and tense, and in Naruto's case, impatient, silence.

Shizune returned in a few moments and knocked.

:Come in, Shizune!" Tsunade ordered. The doors opened revealing Shizune and she led in a family of five; a man and a woman; Neji assumed them to be the parents; and three girls all about the Genins' age, and undoubtedly the children of the man and woman. These girls bore an uncanny resemblance to their parents. The father had a strong but soft build and his jaw was defined and strong. His eyes were green and big and all of his children had the exact same ones. Their hair was black, as their father's was, but they had the delicate features of their mother, who had a soft, petite body and an enchanting complexion, which showed in all of her children's faces. However much like their parents they looked, though, each still had their own unique qualities. One, the tallest, but not by much, had a look of permanent skepticism on her face and looked to be the cleverest of them all. The second tallest, had a small dimple below her left eye and looked to be the kindest of them all. And the third, the shortest, had soft cheeks and lips, by far the most beautiful of the three.

She noticed Neji appraising her and blushed, smiling to herself. She and her parents and sisters approached the Hokage and bowed low.

"Thank you so much for accepting our request!" the man said looking at the floor rather than Tsunade. Tsunade waved away the gratitude.

"It's nothing, really," she said. "I have your assurance that you can pay us for this mission so I will be sure to provide you with your money's worth. I can assure you that these are some of the best ninja in Konoha." The lie rolled easily off her tongue. Naruto, everybody there except the clients knew, was the most irritating and unskilled ninja in the village. However, there was some truth to it, as two Jounin, Kurenai and Gai, and two of the most skilled Genin, Sai and Neji were being sent with Naruto.

The man looked up gratefully.

"Arigato!" he said, gratefully. His wife reached out and gripped his hand hopefully. He turned to look at her with relieved green eyes. The sisters exchanged looks of happiness and hope. The tallest, and most likely, the eldest, stepped forward. She bowed her head respectfully.

"We, my sisters and I wish to thank you, Lord Hokage, for aiding us in our time of need," she spoke. Her voice was sharp yet soft, and it was drenched with sincerity and gratitude. Her sisters bowed in agreement and thanks and their parents looked at them proudly with fond eyes. Neji felt a slight pang. Is this what it would be like to have a real family? Well, if you exclude the fact that they were being chased by assassins.

The Hokage shook her head.

"Please, save your thanks for your escorts and bodyguards, once they defeat your pursuers," she said, and then paused. Neji realized then that Tsunade wanted one of them to step forward and assure the family that they would indeed, defeat the pursuers. Smoothly, and right on cue, Neji stepped forward and bowed.

"You can be assured," he promised, speaking to the parents as opposed to the family. "That we will not let anything happen to you or your kin. We only ask that you cooperate with us and place your full trust in our abilities as shinobi, and we will do the rest." Short and sweet. Tsunade smirked. Naruto and Lee looked away with something that could be classified as jealousy on their faces. Shino looked stoic, as usual. Kurenai looked impressed, and Gai stood proudly, basking the fact that his student was so intelligent. Tenten, however, wasn't looking at Neji. She was grinning at the sisters' reaction to his small speech. They were all blushing and eyeing him carefully, trying to be subtle about it, not that Neji would have known anyway. He was oblivious to flirting. The parents looked at Neji and smiled.

"Thank you, young Leaf nin," the man said. "Would you grace us with your name?" Neji bowed as he responded.

"I am Hyuuga Neji, sir," he replied. He turned and indicated to his teammates respectfully. "These are my companions and fellow shinobi of Konoha Leaf Village. Tenten." Tenten bowed. "Rock Lee." Lee followed suit. "Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto clumsily dipped forward, trying to hide a look of envy and irritation. "Yoshikawa Sai." Sai bowed, like the others. "Aburame Shino." Shino dipped forward without removing his hands from his pockets. Neji turned to face Gai and Kurenai. "And these are our Sensei," he said. Being the polite and civil offspring of the Hyuuga clan that he was, Neji allowed Kurenai and Gai to step forward and introduce themselves.

"I am Might Gai," Gai boomed proudly, his hands on his hips. Kurenai shook her head and stepped forward, smiling at the family.

"I am Yuuhi Kurenai," she said. "It is a pleasure to be protecting you and your daughters, but I feel as though we are at a disadvantage." She turned to the sisters. "You know our names, but we don't know yours." The sisters smiled, and once again, the eldest stepped forward.

"I am Kiku," she said, and bowed. She indicated to the second eldest and second tallest. "This is my sister, Kyoko." The kind looking one bowed and straightened. Kiku then proceeded to her third sister. "This is my second sister, Kimiko." The beautiful one bowed and glanced at Neji quickly and fleetingly but returned her gaze to the floor disappointedly when she saw he wasn't looking. Kurenai looked over each of them and nodded.

"Arigato," she said, bowing. She turned to the parents. "You have very beautiful and polite daughters," she said. "As my companion's student so truthfully said, we promise we will let no harm befall them." The family nodded gratefully. Naruto, being Naruto and being unable to stand silently for so long, stepped forward.

"When are we leaving?" he asked, an edge in his voice. Tsunade turned to him and tried to hide her impatience as she answered.

"Immediately," she said. "You have one hour to prepare but, you must leave as soon as you're done. As long as the Nagasani family is here, we are in danger as well. The sooner you leave and destroy the assassins the sooner both they and you will be safe." Naruto nodded, a grin of anticipation beginning to spread across his face. He was looking forward to this!


	2. Chapter 2

One half hour had passed since the Hokage had released both the ninjas and the Nagasani family.

"You can't be serious!" Kiu shouted at Kimiko. "We've just secured the help of Konoha shinobi! We are going to be escorted back to our home, and, what's more, we're still alive! Why would you want to tell them now!?" Kimiko looked down shamefully, but persisted.

"It's wrong!" she said as forcefully as she could, her slender fingers shaking. "Aside from the fact that we're lying to them, we also promised that we would not bring foreign ninja into our clan dispute! We promised the Igarashi clan ourselves! Completely betraying their trust and Konoha's makes us more likely to be killed!" Her parents reacted with stunned and angry silence. Kiku raised her brow.

"But, sister," she reasoned. "You were the one who was so excited about the prospect of being protected. Are you sure your sudden desire to practice morality has nothing to do with what a certain young Konoha shinobi will think of you if he finds out the truth?" Kimiko looked down and blushed. Kyoko stood and put a protective arm around Kimiko.

"Do not pester her for her desire to do what is right," she said. "She was also worried sister, that we would be discovered, and the momentary shock that came as a result of the realization that we were close to one of the greatest shinobi villages was enough to make anyone lose sight of what is morally correct. Look what it did to our poor parents." The girls were now speaking as though their parents did not exist and were not beside them throughout this entire debate.

"But we have come so far and are willing to pay!" Kiku argued. "We even told the Hokage about this! She agreed and now we have the aid of Konoha shinobi!"

"Whom we're lying to!" Kimiko interjected. "It matters not that we have protection at this point if that protection is killed in the future because of our failure to speak truthfully about the situation!" Kiku sighed exasperatedly and threw her hands out in an agitated gesture.

"They're shinobi!" she almost shouted. "Two of them are Jounin! They can handle a few petty assassins!"

"But these are not just 'petty assassins'!" Kimiko shouted back, now on her feet. "The Igarashi's are trained shinobi and can handle two Jounin and a few Genin! They're trained to! If they don't realize what they're getting into, then they can't possibly expect what could happen!"

"_Could _happen!" Kiku responded angrily. "You're not guaranteeing that anything_ will _happen! Why can you not just keep this to yourself and suppose that we will live through it! The Hyuuga asked us to trust them and so I, at least, shall! What about you, Kimiko? Kyoko?" Kyoko was silent. Kimiko, however, faced her sister boldly.

"I do trust them, sister," she said. "I trust them to get us through this alive, and I trust them enough to tell them the truth. I'm sorry." She turned to her parents, standing, perplexed a few feet away, and bowed.

"I'm sorry, Mother," she said. "Father." She turned to leave but a voice stopped her.

"I knew it."

Kimiko whirled around in a flurry of robes and Kiku's head snapped to the right, glaring. Kyoko gasped audibly and quickly covered her hand with her mouth. There, standing before them, cool as you please, was Yoshikawa Sai. She stepped forward and smirked.

"I knew there was something wrong with this," she said. Her smirk widened as she looked around at the Nagasani family before her. "So you were lying." Kiku stood up angrily and opened her mouth to say something.

"Don't tell me that eavesdropping is rude, you liar," Sai retorted. "Because, lying to shinobi about a task is quite a bit worse than 'rude' and even borders a little on offensive!" Kiku's mouth shut.

"That's better," Sai said. "Now, the reason I'm here is because the Hokage told me to watch you and to listen carefully to what I might here. Seems she was right on the mark when she said I'd find out something interesting." She paused and let the impact of what she was saying sink in. No one said a word. Sai continued.

"You see, as Hokage," she said. "Tsunade-sama is charged with the protection of not only our clients, but also our ninja. She can't send us headfirst into a mission without the full knowledge of what exactly we're getting ourselves into. That lack of knowledge, however small it may be could affect our success rate, as well as our chance for survival. That would just be plain negligent. And, in your case, the knowledge that it's not just a random assassination, but in fact a premeditated one with a serious reason and motive makes all the difference.

"But, at the same time, the Hokage can't betray your confidence. Think what that would do to our reputation. It was a real problem for Tsunade-sama. But she finally decided to tell Sensei's Kurenai and Gai and one of the Genin; me, obviously. I suppose her decision to choose me stemmed from the fact that I was already suspicious. Funny, how things work out." She stopped and Kiku found her voice.

"You were suspicious?" she hissed. Sai chuckled.

"Oh, yes," she replied, amused. "I already knew about the clan dispute between the Nagasani and Igarashi clans. It's not exactly a big secret. But, then again, I might well be the only one of your escorts who knows about it. When you mentioned nothing of whom the assassins were and why they were after you I became immediately suspicious. And I wasn't the only one. Hyuuga Neji and Aburame Shino were also suspicious, and I even believe Tenten became a little curious. Now I see why."

Then, suddenly she dropped her smug and indifferent attitude and became serious.

"That was a pretty low move," she said dangerously. "Lying to shinobi, the very thing you're trying to escape. Tsunade could've turned down the mission if she wanted to and then where would you have gone? I'm going to take this time to warn you that, right now, we're the only thing that stands between you and death." She stopped once again, this time, with no intention of continuing. The Nagasani's just stood frozen and looked at her. Sai gave them one last, meaningful look before she turned and walked away. Kiku stared resentfully after her.

"Is everyone ready?" Kurenai offered to help the Nagasani's with what their luggage, mostly goods that they were selling and some clothes for them and their children. Kiu and Yoshi quickly shook their heads. They were still shaken by the rather rough discussion between their daughters and the Yoshikawa.

As if to reassure them, Sai approached the two troubled parents and placed her hands on their shoulders. They started and turned to face her, with frightened looks upon their faces. She smiled genuinely at them and their looks of fear melted to looks of gratitude. Kiku still looked rather annoyed and Kimiko and Kyoko looked apologetic. Kimiko was also looking at Neji, who was still, to Tenten's embarrassment, oblivious to all attempts at flirting. Lee and Naruto were trying to hurry everyone up, Naruto saying in a whiny and irritating voice that they were too slow, and Lee, complaining about the very same thing, while throwing in the words "Youthful," "Invigorating" and "Passion." Tenten was watching Kurenai and Gai carefully, Sai's accusation of her being completely correct, and Shino was packing his own things, quite passively, as always.

The shinobi were ready within five minutes, having been trained to be ready quickly, and were waiting for the Nagasani's to finish their own packing, all of them having refused the ninjas' help. When, finally they were prepared, the ninjas led them out of the village and onto a wide pathway through the forest, towards their destination, the Land of Lightning. The journey, so far, was going well. Sai, Kurenai and Gai, however, seemed a little more on guard than the rest of them. Neji, Shino and Tenten noticed this, obviously and followed suit, not knowing what for, though.

They made their first stop around sunset and the little wagon of goods was pulled over and knapsacks were opened and sleeping bags, set up. At the right time, a fire was quickly and deftly lit and the group sat around it awkwardly. It was Sai who broke the tension.

"So, how exactly did you come to realize that you came to be a target of these assassins?" she asked, knowing full well what the answer was. Kiku glared at her. The angry girl stood, her ebon locks fluttering angrily about her.

"I think I'll go for a walk," she muttered. She turned and walked away, Kurenai and Gai stopping Tenten from preventing her. Sai shook her head and followed, nodding assuredly to the worried looking parents.

She followed Kiku to a secluded area of the forest and watched the girl sit down in a patch of flowers. She approached her and looked down; deciding what would be the best way to approach her. Finally she decided on a direct confrontation. She sat down next to her and looked down at the flowers between them. Kiku never looked up.

"Why do you insist on keeping this a secret from us?" she asked, truly curious. Kiku sighed, still looking down at the ground.

"Why should I speak with you?" she tried to sound angry, but Sai knew she was scared.

"Because I'm trying to protect you," Sai said. "It's not worth trying to remain angry at me. I know that you're probably the most frightened of either of your sisters. As the eldest, you know more than either of them and are charged with their safety, correct?" Kiku squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep the horrifying images in her mind at bay. She jumped when Sai placed a hand lightly on her shoulder.

"You don't know the Igarashi clan," she said angrily. She paused and Sai thought she was trying to keep from crying, but one look from her and that thought left her mind. Kiku did not cry. She expressed anguish and fear in different ways; in anger. "I was the one they caught listening in on their negotiations. I was the one they were after. I managed to escape them and alerted my father, who immediately took us up and left with us. We were found and attacked. We fled and managed to come within sight of your village. At seeing where we were headed the shinobi chasing us fled into the forest, no doubt to regroup. And we rushed into your village out of panic and desperation, but knowing very well that you detested involving yourself in clan disputes. But we still needed help. And now we're here." Sai looked at her, surprised at how willingly she had given up so much information. But one part of it still did not click.

"It's still a little unclear," she said. "How does your promise not to involve foreign shinobi have any connection with this, then?" Kiku sighed again, somewhat impatiently.

"Before we left the Land of Lightning, we were confronted by the elder of the Igarashi clan and he asked us to remain quiet about what we had heard otherwise he would…kill us," Kiku started, in a surprisingly calm voice. "We promised that we would and he said he'd let us leave the Land of Lightning. However, we had to promise that we would not go to any of the four shinobi villages to request help from their ninjas. We made the promise and tried to leave, but his shinobi attacked us. We managed to shake them off and made our way here. We figured that, since they had broken their promise, all promises since were now moot. So…we requested help from Konoha ninja; you, telling you most of our situation, but not all of it. We still feared and fear an attack from the Igarashi clan so we did not…and will not…tell you what we overheard; what I overheard." She stopped and broke off, breathing slightly faster than was the norm. Sai watched her for a moment and let her hand fall. She looked down.

"You still haven't answered my question," she said. "Why didn't you tell us the truth?" Kiku looked at her, shocked. Sai looked back at her, serious. Kiku looked down and took a breath.

"You're not going to let this go, are you?" she asked. Sai smirked and said," Nope." Kiku sighed.

"Fine," she said quietly. "I didn't want to tell you, because, I knew that we were going to be discovered by the Igarashi shinobi and I knew that they were going to assume that you were hired by us to protect us from them. I just thought that if—when—you were accused, you would be able, then, to deny it truthfully, insisting that you had no knowledge whatsoever of any of this and that you were hired by us to complete a simple bodyguard mission. I figured it would be alright, but then my sisters developed a conscience." She spoke in a disgusted way, but Sai could also sense despair somewhere deep within her voice. She shook her head.

"You've developed a conscience as well," Sai said. "In fact, I think you've had one all along." Kiku sniggered softly and shook her head, but Sai pressed on.  
"I'll bet you even considered turning yourself in to the Igarashi clan just to keep your family safe," she said. "Why, then, do you think your sisters wanted to tell us what really happened?" Kiku glanced at Sai and saw that she was smiling, already knowing the answer to her own question.

"I…don't know," Kiku lied. Sai rolled her eyes.

"Oh, you know," she said. "But, since you clearly won't say it, I will. They don't want to see you killed and they know that to keep us in the dark would, essentially be the same as killing you." She stopped and all that could be heard were Kiku's frequent shaky breaths.

"They love you very much, you know," Sai said quietly. Kiku was surprised at how gentle the nin's voice was. She glanced at the Yoshikawa and she fell forward, face in hands, trying to stifle the sudden wave of tears that had erupted from her fragile eyes. Sai sat and watched her cry, knowing well that sympathy was not what the girl needed. It was genuine love; something she could not provide.

They sat in the flowers, Kiku silently sobbing, Sai silently watching, the sun sinking lower and lower behind the line of the horizon, slowly and quietly bringing the day to a close.


	3. Chapter 3

"When do you think they'll be back?" Tenten asked nervously. Kurenai glanced at Kiu, wringing her hands in her lap, her knuckles white and her eyes wide with worry.

"I'm sure they'll be back any moment," she said, casting a meaningful glance at Gai, who nodded, understanding.

"I'm sure that your young daughter and our young Sai are just having a youthful conversation of bravery and—"

"That's enough, Gai," Kurenai cut him off quickly, afraid of what might've come next. Tenten and Naruto stifled a laugh.

At that moment, Neji stood and walked to the edge of the forest, waiting. A moment later, Sai emerged, carrying a sleeping Kiku in her arms and signaling for the others to be quiet. She walked over to Neji and he held out his hands. She passed the sleeping girl off to him and he carried her to the sleeping place of her sisters, carefully placing her into her sleeping bag and then stepping quietly back. He looked at her for a moment, confirming that she was sleeping and then returned to the circle of people around the fire.

"We will sleep in shifts, so there will always be someone protecting you and your children," he said. Kiu and Yoshi nodded.

"I'll stay awake first," volunteered Tenten. Neji nodded.

"I'll go second," he said.

"And I will go third!" Lee shouted, saluting no one in particular.

"I'll be fourth," Sai said, raising two fingers lazily.

"I'll be fifth, believe it!" Naruto chimed in, just as loud as Lee.

"I guess that means I'm last," Shino said in his usual monotone. Kurenai nodded.

"And Gai and myself will switch back and fourth so there will always be one Jounin awake," she said. Gai nodded and opened his mouth to say something, but Kurenai stopped him.

"Please rest easily," she said. "No one's going to harm you while we're around." Kiu and Yoshi nodded, but still looked worried. And with reason.

It was during Tenten's watch that something went wrong. The weapon-nin noticed something in the distance; a light of sorts. It was suspicious, to say the least and she was about to alert Kurenai of it, when she noticed that it was getting larger and larger very gradually. Acting, then on instincts, Tenten's hand flashed to her Kunai holster and she ran off, not to try and get rid of whatever it was herself, but rather to find out what it was.

What she found both surprised and did not surprise her. She wasn't surprised that she saw a fire, but she was surprised that it belonged to shinobi. After all, wouldn't they want to travel in silence and without attracting attention to themselves, especially since they were so close to Konoha and weren't Konoha shinobi, themselves?

Suddenly, Tenten figured it out. _A diversion! _She thought frantically. She quickly ran away from the approaching group of clones and focused her chakra. As she'd predicted, a steady flow of chakra was coming from the shinobi she had seen before her, the clones, but a stronger flow of chakra was coming from somewhere else, the real shinobi. She closed her eyes, trying to figure out where they were. Behind her? No, above? NO! From her right! Tenten's eyes flashed to her right and narrowed in concentration as she leaped out of the way of an oncoming shower of shuriken. She landed and made the hand sign for the Clone Jutsu. Very quickly two clones were formed, both looking exactly like her, and fanned out into the forest. She reached down to her leg and quickly grabbed two kunai knives, and held them between her fingers. Whoever was responsible for this attack must be a good ninja. She quickly prepared herself for the encounter that was to come and readied herself, counting her assets and liabilities. She was in the forest, at night, with absolutely no idea of who it was attacking her and no idea where they were. Things did not look for the young kunoichi. Still, she knew that she could not let them near the Nagasani family, if indeed that was who they were after. She focused onto the chakra of her enemy once more and threw the kunai. She heard a rustle in the trees as her adversary dodged the attack. Quick as ever, she pulled on the invisible strings, wrenching the kunai back to her. Now she knew where her adversary was and rushed into the trees. She struck out with her weapon where the flow of their chakra was strongest and heard the clang of metal as her attack was deflected. She smirked. Finally! She took a step back and swung her right arm around and, once again struck out, this time sending some chakra into the attack. Once again, her attack was deflected, but this time, she was positioned correctly. With her left hand, she pulled out a scroll and quickly opened it. She swiftly bit her thumb, drawing blood and ran the finger deftly over the scroll, leaving a crimson trail behind. She made a difficult hand sign and released the chakra she had built up. Suddenly, a loud popping noise filled the forest and hundreds of shuriken and kunai came raining down on them, her and the enemy shinobi. She quickly summoned her chakra to her feet and propelled herself away from the attack at incredible speed. She felt the chakra of her opponent flow to his feet and she quickly sent some of her own chakra into the ground, beneath his feet, drawing them to the ground. He couldn't move. She listened carefully and monitored her chakra perfectly in case a counter attack was used. But, a moment later, a blood curdling scream wrought the air and Tenten listened with satisfaction as she heard her opponent fall to the ground with a large thump. She was still careful, though. She turned towards the shinobi and walked over to him. She leaned down, found his neck and felt for a pulse. There was none. She got up and her hand flashed to her kunai pouch. There might be more.

Indeed, a moment later, a sound in the trees told her that someone else was there. She turned and threw a kunai towards the sound. A shriek rang out and a loud thump was heard before someone swore loudly. Tenten blinked. Was that--?

"Naruto?" she hurried over to the fox-nin's side. He was sitting up rubbing his backside furiously and repeatedly swearing and cursing under his breath. When he looked up and saw Tenten he got up and leaned in to her face.

"What the hell was that for, Tenten!?" he shouted angrily. "And after I came all this way to find you." Tenten fought back a giggle.

"Gomen, Naruto," she apologized quickly. "I just thought you might be an enemy shinobi. There was one back there. I think I got him, though." Naruto looked curiously behind her and walked in the direction she was indicating.

"Damn, Tenten!" he said, clapping Tenten on the back. "You really handed it to that guy!" Tenten looked nervous.

"I know," she said. "Which is what concerns me. I think that there might be more, so I'm reluctant to go back to the site because I don't want to lead them there." Naruto looked uncharacteristically serious. He bent down and examined the ninja's headband, which was tied around his waist.

"Well, this guy's definitely from the Land of Lightning," he said, pointing to the headband. Tenten's eyes widened.

"Naruto, get the hell away from there!" she screamed. Naruto, startled by her sudden outcry, fell over, but scurried up and ran over to Tenten, who grabbed his hand and sped away, and not a moment too soon. A mere second later, there was a large boom and the body exploded. Tenten, by then had shoved Naruto forward, using her chakra to propel him farther forward. Luckily, he was only singed slightly, but she got close to the full blast. She tried to scream, but when her mouth opened, only inhaled ash and smoke. She flew forward and crashed into something but didn't dare open her burning eyes to find out what. She thought she heard someone call her name, but it was drowned out by the sound of her rapidly beating heart. Her mind went blank and she felt her body begin to grow heavy as she tried to move her limbs. A searing pain shot through her as she felt herself being lifted up and a worried voice penetrated the shield of ash and smoke that had enveloped her to tell her everything would be alright. Then, she fell to the black world of unconsciousness.


	4. Chapter 4

She awoke and tried to open her eyes but felt someone force them shut again. It hurt. She tried to cry out, but her voice seemed to have broken. She tried to sit up but strong and pale hands forced her back down as gently as they could. She felt someone's hand entwined with her own and moved her fingers slightly. She heard a sharp intake of breath and the hand holding hers jerked as if its owner had just awakened. She heard a soft voice ring through her mind; distant; not quite real.

"Tenten..?" She heard Lee's voice; cautious, afraid and drenched with worry and concern. She turned her head towards the voice and tried to answer back, but it hurt. Her chest burned with pain and she was only able to squeak before slipping back into her dark world.

Neji sighed as he watched Tenten. He may not have shown it, but he was torn inside. Here was one of his dearest friends, badly burned, nearly scorched to death, and he had been sleeping the entire time. Damn him…Why hadn't he awakened? Why had it been Naruto who noticed her disappearance and not him? He hung his head and shut his eyes as he contemplated this question, but finding no sufficient answer. Right now, only one question really mattered to him: Was Tenten going to be alright? Slowly, jerkily, Neji reached out and gently took the hand that Lee was not holding. He wanted to hold it tightly; wanted to assure himself that Tenten would be fine, but he couldn't. All he could do now was watch as she suffered unbearable pain; all he could do was sit…and wait.

He wasn't the only one. Lee was beside himself as well. He too had slept through the entire ordeal and didn't wake until the blast was heard. The blast…the blast…That was all he could think about…the blast that almost killed Tenten, his beloved comrade. She had almost died, and might still be dying because of some bastard using an exploding note or something. Now he felt angry, uncontrollably angry; furious at whoever did this. He started shaking, shaking uncontrollably. His hands gripped Tenten's angrily and her face twisted in pain. Lee felt a soft pale hand reach out and place itself on his shoulder, calming him. He looked up and saw Neji, just as angry and just as frightened for her as he was and he managed a shaky smile, which Neji couldn't seem to return. She wouldn't die…she couldn't die…would she..? Could she..?

Naruto felt horrible; sickeningly horrible. He knew that it was his fault. He knew. If he hadn't been stupid enough to activate that exploding tag Tenten never would've…it never would've gotten…so out of hand. He couldn't even bring himself to look at her. If only he had realized it then…if only he had been a little quicker. He felt a burning anger inside of him and felt the familiar feeling of vengeance. He knew he would lose control. Eventually…but not right now. Not now. Not while he was wracked with guilt and worry. He sighed, but it sounded distant. He blinked and tried to remember before the incident, but he couldn't really. He just knew that a disturbance outside had caused him to wake up and he had found Tenten gone. He went to follow her and had found her by a dead shinobi's body. He had bent down to examine it…and then…and then…it happened. She was burning. It was horrible. He almost couldn't move until he realized that Tenten's life was in his hands. He had lifted her up and bolted back to the camp. Everyone was awake by now. He saw everyone's face. He saw Lee take one look at Tenten and start shaking and quivering. Even Gai hadn't been able to comfort him. His mouth fell open and his knees buckled beneath him. Neji's face grew deathly white and his body froze so he looked like a standing corpse. Sai's eyes widened and she rushed over to Tenten to ascertain what kind of damage had been done. Even Shino had reacted, which surprised Naruto exceedingly. His hands flew from his pockets and he rushed to get bandages. When he came back his arms were shaking so much that Kurenai had to take the bandages quickly away from him. She then proceeded to treat Tenten's wounds as best he could. Shino and the others watched nervously, hoping that her shaky hands could magically heal their companion. Naruto couldn't look after that…and…he still couldn't bring himself to look at her terribly pained face…

The site was complete confusion and panic. Sai had to assure the Nagasani family that everything was alright and then Kurenai had to assure all of the shinobi that everything was okay, but she hadn't been sure then, and wasn't any more certain now…Her hands were still shaking like they were when she had applied the bandages. Gai was still distraught and Sai's eyes were still wide. Shino was as white as Neji and Lee and Naruto had not improved at all. Time then seemed to have frozen then and no one could move forward. No one wanted to; especially Tenten's teammates.

"What happened?" Kyoko had left the protection of her sleeping bag and went to the group of people clustered around Tenten. She knew that Tenten was hurt but she didn't have the details. She approached them and no one stopped her. However, when she gasped, they all looked up and stared at her in an empty way. Shino walked over to her and led her away.

"What happened to her?" Kyoko asked cautiously. Shino sighed slightly.

"She was caught in an explosion," he said in a stable voice. He had never known Tenten personally, but he knew how much her teammates and Naruto cared for her. He closed his eyes and his mind flashed to the Hyuuga who always seemed to be with her or Lee. It was unusual for him to be so keyed up. _He must care for her a lot._ He thought. _Makes sense. I wouldn't feel much different if Hinata or Kiba was hurt like that. _He felt a pang of sympathy for Neji. _I hope Tenten heals quickly for him and Lee._ He sighed as Kyoko's sisters surrounded him, seeking more answers and comfort, neither of which he could provide.

"Do you think we should take her back to Konoha?" Lee's voice was raspy and barely audible. Neji started when he heard it, as though surprised that other people did indeed exist and that several of them were there with him and Tenten. He shook his head.

"I don't know," he said, his voice barely more than a whisper. "I don't know if she's well enough to move. But…we are incredibly close…" Naruto nodded and made the mistake of looking at Tenten. His breath caught in his throat as he saw her pained expression and the bandages that adorned her head, torso, left leg and arm, and her shoulders. He slowly and unstably sat down on the ground before he fell.

Sai watched as Naruto, Neji, Lee and Gai internally beat themselves up for not having been there to prevent this tragedy. She looked down and took a deep breath. She stood slowly and walked over to Tenten. She leaned down slightly and placed her hands on the girl's head. Tenten made a small noise and lifted her hand up to touch Sai's. Lee dropped Tenten's other hand and stared, unblinking at her. Neji's head snapped to look at her face and Naruto's hand was on the ground behind him, ready to push himself up. Sai's eyes closed and she sagged. Neji was up in an instant and caught her. He held her and watched her expression, which soon matched that of Tenten. She started writhing in Neji's grip and soon she let out a cry. Naruto was at her side instantly and was calling out to her. But, instead of responding, Sai's hand fell from Tenten and the injured girl bolted up, breathing heavily. Lee gasped and leaned forward. Naruto cried out happily to Tenten and Neji nearly dropped Sai. All color returned to his face and he looked more relieved than any of them. But then his gaze returned to Sai, worried and frightened again. Naruto looked assuredly at him.

"Don't worry," he said. "She did that when she healed Hinata after her match against you at the Chuunin Exams. She's going to be fine." Neji looked at Naruto's face, full of certainty and faith in his friend and smiled.

"Good," he muttered. He looked down at the unconscious girl in his arms and brought her up to him in a warm embrace. This was the umpteenth time she had helped him in some way or another and he had grown to care for her as Naruto did, which was saying something. He laid her tenderly on the ground and watched her breathing even out. His heart was still beating rapidly from the shock of almost losing Tenten, but he could feel it settling down now.

"H-how is she?" Neji turned his head and saw Tenten behind him, a worried expression on her slightly scarred face as she leaned over Sai. He pushed her into sitting position and said, "She's fine." Tenten's face lit up and she reached over and hugged Neji.

"Thank god," she whispered into his ear. Neji smiled into her and lifted his arms up around her. He was so relieved that she was alright. He owed Sai big time. He pulled away after a moment and said, "Lee was really worried about you too." Tenten smirked and turned to Lee, who was on his knees and positively bawling. She went over to him and hugged him too. His face went red and he hugged her timidly at first, but became surer of himself and began to hold her tightly after a while. Gai watched, tears playing at his eyes, until he couldn't take it anymore and pulled Lee and Tenten into a bone crushing hug that, after Tenten made a small pained noise, he softened up a bit. Naruto watched, afraid to approach Tenten, the red knife of guilt still twisting inside of him.

"It's not your fault, you know," Neji said, placing a small hand on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto sighed but didn't look up.

"It was in trying to save me that she was caught in the blast," he said. "It was my fault." Neji's grip on Naruto's shoulder tightened and in an instant Naruto was staring into the former's face as he glared at him. He flinched but didn't try to pull away, as he knew what Neji was going to say and knew he was right.

"Tenten saved your ass," the Hyuuga hissed dangerously. "And that's how she got injured. That's true, yes. But. Do you really think that this is how she wants your relationship with her to be? Full of guilt and regret? Please, Naruto, for all of us, come to peace with yourself about this. It would kill her if she saw you like this. It would kill all of us." He stopped and his face was inches from Naruto's. He smirked. "And besides, do you really think this is how a Hokage would act?" Naruto's eyes widened slightly and a grin slowly spread across his face. His hand slowly found its way to his companion's shoulder. Thank god Neji was a genius!


	5. Chapter 5

Tenten didn't exactly feel the best but she didn't feel horrible either. Thanks to Sai's last minute treatment, any major wounds had been mitigated, but she still had some scars here and there. She insisted that she was alright, but everyone insisted that they should stay one more night just so she could get some rest. She finally gave in, but she wouldn't allow them to take her back to Konoha. Sai was still unconscious, building up the chakra she had used for Tenten's sake, and no one wanted to move forward without her.

So Tenten remained in her sleeping bag, resting and Sai, next to her, resting as well. Naruto chose that moment to approach Tenten.

"T-Tenten?" he ventured cautiously. Tenten looked over at him and smiled.

"Oh, hey Naruto," she said cheerfully. "How are you feeling? You didn't get hurt too bad did you?" Naruto looked down.

"No," he said. "What I got was nothing compared to what you suffered. I'm sorry." Tenten cocked her head.

"Please don't tell me you feel guilty about this whole situation," she said. Naruto looked at her, one brow raised. "It wasn't your fault, Naruto! That exploding tag would've gone off anyway. I didn't notice it until after you pointed it out, so you actually saved me." She hoped this would be enough to shake Naruto out of his guilt fest. It was. After what Neji said and what Tenten said, Naruto had enough proof to know and accept that this whole thing hadn't been his fault. He sat down next to Tenten in curiosity.

"How did you know it was an exploding tag?" he asked.

"Before you came, I fought with that shinobi and my attack with kunai was deflected twice," explained. "The first time he used his own kunai knife. I could tell by the sound the two made. But the second time the sound was slightly different. I knew that to be the sound that a kunai would make against a forehead protector. And from the way I was positioned, I could tell that this one was strapped around his arm. But when you pointed to it, Naruto it was around his waist. He put it there to hide the exploding tag. He must've done that just before I hit him with my attack." She stopped and took a breath and then continued. "He was a suicide shinobi." Naruto's eyes narrowed. Suicide shinobi were serious ninja who never stopped until they were killed or until they finished their mission, even if it meant killing themselves in the process. If this was who they were dealing with then it was more serious than they thought. Could this have been one of the assassins that were after the Nagasani's?

Naruto left Tenten to rest some more and found Neji. By now the Hyuuga prodigy had calmed down and was ready to get moving. Naruto pulled him away from the Nagasani's, which was difficult because Kimiko always tried to keep him in her sight.

"Neji," Naruto said urgently. "Tenten thinks that the ninja she killed might have been a suicide ninja." Neji's brow furrowed and he looked right in Naruto's eyes.

"What exactly happened to her before you came?" he asked. Naruto shook his head.

"You'd have to ask her," he said. "I didn't think to ask her that myself." Neji nodded and walked over to Tenten. Sai was now stirring. Neji sat down next to his companion.

"Tenten," he started seriously. "What happened in that forest before Naruto came to find you?" Tenten looked at her hands in her lap, trying to remember everything.

"I had seen a light somewhere in the distance…" she recalled. "I was going to get Kurenai but I noticed it was getting closer so I went to investigate. I found out that it was a bunch of shinobi clones carrying a torch as they moved. I separated myself from them and was attacked by a shinobi, whom I defeated. Then Naruto came, and…well, you know the rest." Yes, Neji did know the rest. And he knew that someone was going to pay for "the rest." Neji turned to Tenten.

"Do you really think that you're ready to continue?" he asked her solemnly. She looked at him for a moment before nodding her head once. The bandages had been removed and there were no scars that anybody could see. Tenten stood up, and Neji noticed that she did not wince, flinch or grimace. She was ready. He looked over at Sai and started when he saw that she was awake and smirking like she always did. He grinned back at her.

"Do you make a habit out of saving our asses?" he asked. Sai laughed.

"I guess so," she said. She stood up and Neji followed suit.

"Did you hear what Tenten said just now?" he asked. Sai nodded seriously, and then smiled at Neji and Tenten.

"You're starting to figure it out," she said. Neji and Tenten looked confused. Sai shrugged and walked away to alert her charges that everything was alright, but that they should stay on their guard. It was in that time that Gai approached Tenten. He looked at her with a relieved look on his face. He put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm glad you're alright, Tenten," he said, in a somewhat shaky voice. Tenten smiled.

"Thank you, Gai-Sensei," Tenten said. "I was careless, though. That's why it happened. I should've been more careful. I let my guard down when Naruto came and wasn't prepared for what happened. It was my own fault." Gai nodded.

"Yes, it was your own fault, but you handled your mistake very well," he said. "I only hope that something like that never happens again. I don't know how Lee would handle it if you died." Tenten smiled and nodded.

"But, please, Sensei," she asked imploringly. "Don't let this go to heart. I know my mistake and I know how I can correct it, so I hope you will not limit my actions out of worry." Gai looked at her and nodded.

"I will not, Tenten, but please, do not make the mistake of lowering your guard even around your fellow ninja, for a lapse as small as that, even can sometimes cause death," he said wisely. Tenten nodded.

"Are we ready to move on?" she said seriously. "Those shinobi who attacked me were most likely the assassins from the Land of Lightning who wanted to kill the Nagasani's. They were suicide shinobi and some of them are still at bay. I think they are aware of our position, though. They probably followed Naruto back to the site. And, as it is we're too close to Konoha. They might be able to infiltrate it and launch an attack from within." Gai's eyes became instantly serious and he nodded, realizing that everything Tenten said was right. They were in danger and Konoha was in danger. If they could distance themselves from the Leaf Village, then at least that would be safe. They still had quite a ways to go before they reached their destination, though. That was what worried Gai the most. _They attacked us so early on in the mission. _He thought. _How much more will they attack us and how often? _Gai sighed and told Tenten to prepare her things, and went to find Kurenai.

"How is she, Gai?" Kurenai asked.

"She's fine," Gai answered, looking fondly at Tenten. "She can handle something like that probably better than Lee or even Neji. At any rate, it's the attack that she suffered that worries me. She was attacked without warning and no ferocity was spared. If this is the beginning, I fear what will happen in the future." Kurenai nodded and looked into space, thinking.

"They must be the ones behind the attack," she said. Gai nodded.

"They're getting serious about it," he said. "If they did this to one of our own without really knowing who she really worked for…" His voice trailed off and Kurenai shuddered.

"What are we talking about, here?" Gai and Kurenai turned to see Sai walking towards them. They sighed.

"We're talking about who made the attack on Tenten," Gai said. Sai raised her eyebrow.

"Well, one could argue that they were assassins from the Igarashi clan attempting to kill the Nagasani's," she said. "Or one could argue that they were just random shinobi looking for some fun." Kurenai looked cynical.

"Why would you even suppose that this was a random attack?" she asked. Sai looked at her.

"Why wouldn't you?" she returned. "According to Tenten, the forehead protector was moved from the arm to the waist during the battle, but she can't distinctly remember what they looked like. It could've been, and most likely was a different ninja she killed. She said it was a suicide shinobi, but they're trained, not only to willingly die for the mission, but also to finish it. He does not shy away from death, nor does he fear it, as the ninja she killed seemed to. It could've been a random group of shinobi who was untrained to deal with Tenten's techniques. Or, as you say it could've been the Igarashi's trying to dispose of the problem the Nagasani family poses. Or it could've been a combination of the two. However, I am certain of one thing; there were two shinobi, the one Tenten killed and the one she was initially fighting." She stopped and Gai and Kurenai thought. To be honest, they had suspected the very same thing and felt it was confirmed now that another believed it to be true. However, that made things much more dangerous. Whoever it was that attacked Tenten, if they were still alive they would be back. This worried them. Maybe they should tell the other Genin.

"Shino." Shino turned and saw the tall Hyuuga heir approaching him. He nodded as Neji stopped in front of him.

"You're suspicious, too, aren't you?" Neji asked. Shino hesitated, his eyes swiveling left and right, but nodded slightly.

"I know they haven't been entirely truthful with us, if that's what you mean," he said.

"That is what I mean," Neji said. "And I just wanted to know how you saw things. I don't know what went on while Tenten was fighting, but I know that that incident was no accident, and has something to do with our mission. And I can't help but worry that another one of similar magnitude could happen again; especially as we don't know what to fully expect." Shino nodded. He looked quickly at Neji through his black shades and then turned and walked to Kurenai. Neji hesitated and then followed him.

"Kurenai-Sensei?" Shino sounded stern but respectful as he spoke her name. Kurenai turned to face him. One look at his face, even though it was covered by his collar and sunglasses, told her everything she needed to know.

"So, you want to know what's really going on?" she asked gravely. Shino nodded. Kurenai sighed, and her eyes flashed to Gai, who was, at that moment crumbling under the hard stare of the Hyuuga prodigy. She turned back to her student and felt his hard eyes resting upon hers, waiting for an answer. She decided to give it to him.

"Well, in short, this is not just a random assassination attempt," she said carefully. Shino nodded. He already knew that. He just didn't know the particulars. Kurenai continued. "The Nagasani and Igarashi clans of the Land of Lightning are currently having a large land dispute. The Igarashi's are more radical than the Nagasani's and believe in a forceful solution to the problem, while the Nagasani's refuse to abandon their traditional ways of peace and negotiations. However, as of late, the Nagasani clan has taken to more violent ways of maintaining and, eventually gaining more land. If this continues, the Land of Lightning may face a clan war. And, you know that because of alliances and treaties, more clans and families will be dragged into this until eventually the whole of the country will be enflamed in war. Yoshi and Kiu Nagasani are very influential figures and I believe that Kiu is even the daughter of the Nagasani clan leader. If she is captured by the Igarashi's then they have basically won this dispute. That, I believe is one of the reasons the Igarashi's are pursuing us. Another, I know, is the fact that Kiu's daughter, Kiku overheard the Igarashi's plans to capture her mother as well as other plans to win the dispute. According to Kiu and Yoshi's account, the Igarashi clan is actually trying to eliminate the Nagasani clan." She stopped and looked at her student. Shino stood quietly, thinking to himself.

"Yes, a clan war is well on the way," he muttered. Kurenai sighed.

"We should have more shinobi if we're going to pull this off, but I don't think the Hokage intended for the Genin to find out. But, now the only ones who don't know are Tenten, Lee and Naruto." Shino's eyebrow shot up.

"Sai knew?" he asked. Kurenai chuckled.

"Of course Sai knew," she said. "If you were a Hokage faced with the decision of who to tell something like this to, wouldn't Sai be the first one you told?" Shino hesitated then nodded. She was right, after all. Sai was about as powerful as the Hokage herself. It was a wonder she wasn't ANBU yet. Shino sighed. This was…to quote Shikamaru…troublesome…Who knows how many shinobi the Igarashi's could summon up? They were a whole clan! This was going to be difficult, even with the Aburame's bug abilities and the Hyuuga's Byakugan. But, they did have Kurenai and Gai. And Sai, too. _Hmmm…_ Shino thought. _I guess we'll get there when we get there… _He looked over to Neji and could tell immediately that the brunette boy had been told the same thing he had just heard. His face looked troubled and his brow was furrowed. His mouth was in a tight line and his shoulders were tensed. He was trying to figure out what would be the best way to approach the situation. It was instinct to him. However, He was no Shikamaru. And he didn't want to ask anyone else. He was too proud. Shino walked over to him, hands in his pockets, as always.

"You know, it doesn't make you weak if you ask a second opinion," he said. Neji looked down to his feet, away from Shino and went slightly pink from embarrassment.

"Yes, I realize that," he said a little defensively. "And I'm not weak, but I don't, at this point need a second opinion." He turned on his heel and walked away, with the air of a schoolgirl in a huff. Shino shook his head and turned back to the site as Naruto approached. The blonde boy saw Neji walking away in a slight pout and asked, "Shino, what'd you do?" Shino shrugged.

"I don't know," he replied. "I don't understand girls." Naruto looked at Shino and let out a shriek of laughter.

"Shino made a joke!" he shouted. "That is too funny!" He doubled over, clutching his stomach, laughing more at Shino than at what he said. Shino made a face behind his collar and walked coolly away.

As he passed Kiku she reached out and gripped his jacket sleeve. He stopped and didn't look up as he said, "Yes?" Kiku looked over at him with an incredibly penetrating stare and a look of inquiry and suspicion on her face.

"You know?" she accused. Shino nodded. No point in lying. She looked down and sighed.

"Very well," she said, and let go of his sleeve. Shino watched her for a moment and then turned and went to pack his things.

Lee watched Neji very carefully. The beautiful young prodigy had come walking over to him with a very sour expression on his face. _What did Gai-Sensei say to him? _Lee marveled. _Was it really that bad? _

Now, as crazy as Lee could sometimes be, he also had enough intelligence to tell that something was going on. What with the attack of Tenten and Neji's sudden attitude, who wouldn't suspect something? He knew that it had something to do with his mission. What was it, though? Had the Nagasani's lied to them? He'd heard of similar things happening before, so why couldn't it be true now? Lee's thick brow shot up and his round eyes became even rounder. A grin spread across his face.

"I'll be the Shinobi Sleuth!" he shouted, surprising Kiu, who had been carrying a canteen of water nearby. "Such a youthful activity, filled with passion and mystery! Ooooooohhhhh, this is going to be such fuuuuun!!" He started quivering with excitement and anticipation as the familiar "Fire of Youthful Determination," as he called it found its way to his eyes. He was going to enjoy this!


	6. Chapter 6

"Alright, is everyone ready to go?" Kurenai shouted. The entire group, shinobi and protectees alike, nodded. Kurenai nodded and then spoke to the shinobi in particular.

"Form up around them and be careful," she commanded. "You never know when someone could attack." She paused and then added, "We learned that the hard way." Tenten looked down, slightly red. Lee put a comforting hand and on her shoulder and gave her the nice-guy pose, which made her giggle. She quickly recovered and faced forward. Kurenai nodded and turned and sped ahead, Sai at her side. The two would scout ahead and figure out the best route and defeat any threatening shinobi. Gai was to stay behind with everyone else and move a little more slowly. For a time, that way of traveling was fine.

Two days had passed since Tenten's attack and the group was making very good time. Sai and Kurenai were going ahead and returning, with news of ninjas this way, or a bad windstorm had destroyed the town that way, etcetera, etcetera. Naruto was getting a little impatient, though. He was bored and had been for the past two days.

"Aww! Come on!" he whined. "Please let me go with Kurenai and Sai! I want to be in on the action, believe it!" Kurenai sighed and refused, irritated, once again, and Sai laughed.

"Aww, Naruto, you're so adorable when you're angry," she said, patronizingly just to agitate him. It worked very well. He opened his mouth, about to make an angry retort, but Neji had reached out and punched Naruto in the head.

"Shut up, idiot," he said, just as annoyed as everyone else there. Naruto turned back to yell at Neji, but Shino shouted, "Naruto keep your eyes forward!" Naruto glared at Shino but turned his head to face forward and thought to himself, _God, sometimes I think those two are a part of a conspiracy. _He gave Sai a sideways glare, but she just couldn't stop laughing. After a while he gave up and smirked. She was the one who kept him from killing Sasuke on their other missions, so he owed her a laugh every now and then.

"Kurenai!" Gai shouted suddenly. Kurenai nodded and signaled for the group to stop. They did and she made a hand signal and waited. Gai followed suit. Their eyes shut and the shinobi waited with baited breath. A moment or two passed before Kurenai said urgently, "We're being followed." Neji's eyes narrowed. He had felt an unfamiliar chakra but hadn't believed it to be any cause of alarm. Now he knew his suspicions were correct. He quickly turned to the frightened family in the wagon.

"Please," he said. "Come down." They did and they looked around confusedly. Kurenai spoke once again, in a deathly whisper that was totally audible to everyone.

"Drop everything," she ordered. "Kiu, Yoshi, I'm sorry but we'll have to leave your goods behind. As for everyone else, drop everything and get ready to move." The shinobi complied.

"Nagasani's, I apologize, but you're going to have to let us carry you," Sai said. Kiu and Yoshi's head snapped over to face hers. They nodded shakily. Sai turned to Kurenai and nodded. Neji inclined his head and went over to Kyoko.

"Forgive me for being brash," he said. He turned around and pulled her onto his back. Lee went to Kiku and lifted her up onto him in the same fashion. Naruto went to Kimiko and placed her gently onto his back, for once completely understanding the seriousness of the situation. Shino went to Kiu and bowed before placing her on his back. Gai took Yoshi and lifted him to his back and Kurenai moved to the front of the group, while Sai and Tenten moved to either sides. They all looked ready and took off, moving very fast considering the fact that some of them were carrying others. Sai made a hand sign and the wagon and knapsacks were immediately incinerated. Naruto looked back, alarmed at the burnt knapsacks and his jaw dropped.

"All my money was in my knapsack!!" he complained. Sai shook her head.

"Shut up, Naruto and just keep going!" she shouted. Naruto sighed exasperatedly but nodded. They rushed through the forest, jumping from tree to tree making absolutely no sound whatsoever. Sai watched ahead, and occasionally pulling in front of everybody else to ascertain that there was no one coming. Tenten, on the other hand, would fall back occasionally to make sure that no one was following them. Everyone was alert and aware. Shino's bugs came out to fly around him, startling Kiu slightly, and alerting the Aburame if anything unusual was around. Neji activated his Byakugan every now and again to check the surrounding area and alerting Kurenai and Gai if he saw anything unusual. Lee had silenced his breathing and quieted his movements as only he could do, so he could hear and sense anything unusual around. Naruto did the same, silencing his breathing and movements, though not as well as Lee, and listening to everything around him.

Unfortunately for them, their pursuers did reach them, despite their consistent attempts to prevent being caught.

It was midmorning when the group was surrounded. A group of shinobi, in the cover of the trees, halted the Konoha shinobis' progress, before speaking to them.

"Hand over the Nagasani whelps," a deep, disembodied voice spoke. "Comply now or die." Naruto's eyes narrowed but he heard a snigger. He turned and saw Sai's hand flash to her kunai pouch. She grabbed a knife and flung it to her left. There was a rustle in the trees, and a moment later Sai pounced. She disappeared into the trees and emerged a moment later with her kunai knife in the head of the attacking shinobi. She quickly wrenched it from him and flung the body into the air. A loud popping sound was heard and the body disappeared in a puff of smoke, to be replaced with a log. Sai smirked and jumped into the air. She flipped herself over and somehow ended up holding multiple kunai knives. While suspended in the air she rotated around and flung the kunai, deflecting some off of others to send them spiraling in directions naturally impossible for them to be sent in. The kunai landed somewhere in the forest and the group heard yelps and cries. Sai, a look of utter concentration on her face, rotated in the air once more and pulled on invisible strings and the kunai knives came flying back to her, all of them bloodied and scarlet. She flipped herself over, catching all of the knives between her fingers and steadied herself on the ground in a readied stance. She spun herself around and caught the remaining two kunai in her mouth, the blade of one facing one way, the blade of the other facing the opposite way. Her eyes flashed. She was ready.

No one even had time to look surprised. Naruto, however, looked slightly irritated.

"Hmph," he pouted. Neji looked on with wide eyes. He had never seen such grace in executing a move like that before. But, then again, he had never seen Yoshikawa Sai in action. Shino watched with his eyebrow raised. He knew that Sai was amazing, but he didn't know she was this amazing. Tenten looked as though she was watching her idol. She loved the way Sai moved when she displayed that move. The execution was perfect! How'd she get to be so good!? Lee watched in utter fascination, the beautiful display of Taijutsu. She was fantastic! She was living proof that a ninja could survive on Taijutsu alone. Even Gai and Kurenai watched her intently. She proved herself to be better than any of them and anything and everything she did could be used as a basis of sorts upon which they could build and develop their own new techniques.

Sai's eyes were unmoving and unflinching. Without warning, a shuriken came out of the woods from behind her and her eyes flashed around and she deftly knocked it out of the way with her left hand. In its shadow, however, another shuriken came flying towards her, and this one was blocked by her right hand. A loud guffaw was heard from the trees and a shinobi bolted out in front of her. Both of her hands were behind her now, and her front side was left vulnerable. The attacking shinobi lunged at her with a long samurai blade, expecting to watch it skewer her. Imagine his surprise when Sai bent forward and deflected his blow with the kunai in her mouth. She smirked slightly and stepped around him swiftly and surely and her right hand was at his back. With lightning speed and precision, Sai plunged all four kunai between her fingers into his back. His eyes widened and everyone could tell that there was no way at this point he could make a Substitution Jutsu. Sai had been too quick. Blood spurted from the wound on his back and Sai separated her kunai from him. He didn't scream, didn't yell; only choked on his own blood before falling, dead, to the ground. Sai and her companions all looked around warily. A shinobi must never let down their guard. However, no one else came at them.

"Well, that was fun!" Naruto shouted sarcastically. "Did you guys see me tearin' it up out there?" He looked furiously at Sai, who laughed as she checked the body.

"Chill, baka," she said. "If you wanted them so badly you should've been quicker." You could see the steam coming from Naruto's ears.

"Easy for you to say!" he shouted. "You're not carrying anybody!" Kimiko went red and Neji turned sharply to Naruto.

"But you are," he said. "And that someone happens to have ears as well as feelings in case you haven't noticed, which wouldn't be a first." Naruto glared at Neji as though he were Sasuke. _Damn it! _He thought. _I thought not having Sasuke on a mission would be alright, but now I have Sir Neji Scowls-A-Lot here calling me a loser just as much as Sasuke McEmo did. _Naruto sighed heavily. Neji turned his head to Kimiko.

"I apologize for my team member's rudeness," he said. "Sometimes he can't seem to control what comes out of his mouth." Kimiko's cheeks reddened further.

"It's alright!" she squeaked. "I understand that we must be a burden to you! I perfectly comprehend his feelings!" Neji smiled slightly, turning his gaze to Naruto.

"He should still learn to mind his manners," Neji persisted. "Shouldn't you Naruto?" Naruto glared at Neji.

"Shut up, Neji!" he shouted. Neji laughed, angering the Uzumaki further.

"Shino called you a girl!!" he bellowed, voicing the first thing that came to his mind that might annoy Neji. However, the young brunette nin did nothing but stare blankly at Naruto. Quite frankly, that was all anyone could do. At that moment, only one word was running through the group's minds; _What?_ Naruto's pout increased further and soon it resembled that of a stereotypical girl's. Shino sighed to himself. _Naruto, why did you have to drag me into this argument? _He thought.

"That's enough, everyone!" Kurenai shouted. "Let's keep going." Naruto made an irritated noise but moved forward with the rest of the group. Kimiko's cheeks, predictably, were still quite red.


	7. Chapter 7

There progress was not impeded for a large portion of their journey, and soon they needed to stop to rest. They needed food, as well. So, naturally, they decided to stop at a village they were passing.

This part of the tale is rather important, so I won't skimp on details.

"What the hell is this?" Neji asked skeptically, upon entering a rather rough and tumble town. Sai stepped forward and smirked, her hands on her hips, her eyes scanning the violent surroundings.

"This, Hyuuga," she said. "Is hell." Neji's brows rose and he looked around cynically, putting Kyoko down as he did.

"No kidding," he remarked.

All around the village were battered and run-down houses and beat-up shops. The road was scattered with people grumbling irritably about this or that, and in some parts fights were breaking out between drunkards. The village was very vast and was surrounded by a beautiful landscape that people seemed to ignore.

"Wow!" Naruto exclaimed, placing Kimiko on the ground beside him. "What's this place called? It looks like garbage!" Sai sniggered slightly.

"You bet it does," she said. "And this is the decent part of town. Anyway, this place is named after its founder, Arata." Naruto made a noise and looked around with a disapproving but understanding look. Around him, the others placed their charges down beside them. Kiku looked around dejectedly. Kiu went to Yoshi and gripped his hand in a frightened gesture. He drew his arms around her to comfort her. They were frightened. Shino, sensing this, went over to them and bowed slightly.

"Don't worry," he said. "We know what we're doing. You and your family are safe." Kiu and Yoshi nodded gratefully, but their brows remained creased from the worry they felt.

"Well, let's see if we can't find an inn," Kurenai said. Gai nodded and grinned.

"I'm sure that a town as youthfully driven as this will have an inn at which we can stay!" he said. "Let us be optimistic! For that is the very fuel of youth!" Lee returned his sensei's smile and turned to the rest of the group.

"Gai Sensei is right!" he said. "With youth as our guide and passion as our protector we cannot lose!" Gai put a hand on his student's head and bit back tears. He seemed at loss for words in the face of such blatant stupidity, as the others would've chosen to describe it, or innocent and driven optimism, as he would've chosen to describe it. Tenten chuckled and walked forward.

"Come on," she said. "Rejoice after we've found a place to stay." She turned to the Nagasani family and signaled for them to follow. They looked questioningly at Kurenai and then at Gai. They nodded and followed the brunette weapon master.

Walking through the village, they realized it was much worse than they'd initially thought. So far, they had been assaulted twice, the first, when some guy had sexually harassed Tenten, or tried to until Neji came to her rescue, and the second, when some other guy tried to sexually harass Kimiko, until Neji came to her rescue, leaving her blushing adamantly. The group then kept tighter security on the Nagasani's. A very good decision, as it turned out.

By the end of the day, Kurenai had managed to secure two rooms at an inn for them. It would be very tight, as the rooms were meant only for three people each, and, altogether, their group amounted to thirteen. It was a very difficult process to decide who slept where, but they finally agreed that Kiu, Yoshi, Kurenai, Tenten and Naruto would sleep in one room, while Kimiko, Kiku, Kyoko, Gai, Lee, and Sai were to stay in the second room. Shino was appointed as the watch guard, and Neji had offered to stay out with him so he could get some sleep. Shino had agreed passively.

That night it was very difficult for everyone to get to sleep. For Shino, however, it was no problem, as he was taking the first shift. Neji would sleep first for two hours and then the two would switch; a basic, watching maneuver.

Shino watched as the Hyuuga got himself comfortable, at least, as far as the word "comfortable" went for him, which wasn't beyond leaning back against the wall of the inn with closed eyes. He sighed as the Hyuuga's breath still came out in a forced way.

"You know, normally, people use this time to sleep," he said simply. Neji replied without opening his eyes.

"Yes, but I'm on a mission," he said. "I can't slack off that easily. And besides, I need to be ready to wake at any moment, should anything potentially dangerous happen." Shino sighed, with a slight irritation edging it.

"That's what I'm here for," he said. "When it's your turn you can feel free to be as overly cautious as you want, but for now, rest, so you can be at your relative best, when the time comes to defend." He stopped, and Neji looked at him. This was more than Shino had said the entire day. It surprised him, but the Aburame boy spoke correctly, even the Hyuuga had to admit. He was still reluctant to relax all of his senses, though. Shino seemed to sense this, so he approached the Hyuuga, who tensed, and put his hand on the other's neck, and applied a small amount of pressure. He felt Neji's heart skip from the slight shock of having consciousness taken away from him in a single second, but his eyes closed after a moment and his body relaxed against the wall. Shino's hand lingered on his neck for only the smallest of moments, but he let it fall and positioned it behind the sleeping boy's back. Laying him down softly on the ground, Shino turned and resumed his watch.

Neji woke to the sound of someone calling to him. His eyes opened and he squinted in the blurry light. His world soon cleared and his mind began working again. He turned his head and saw a boy sitting next to him. _Shino. _He thought, instinctively, remembering the previous night. Wait. Previous? It was over? Neji looked and saw that the sun was, indeed, peeking out from behind tired trees. He turned angrily to Shino.

"Why didn't you wake me after two hours!?" he shouted indignantly to the bug nin.

"You looked so serene," the Aburame replied simply, still looking forward, his eyes hidden by his sunglasses, his face hidden by his collar. "I didn't want to wake you." Neji let out an angry sigh.

"But, that was why I decided to stay out here!" he said, his voice not so loud, but his tone still agitated. "So you could get a break and get sleep as well! That was completely obsolete! I might as well sleep in one of the rooms!" Shino shrugged.

"If it would make you feel better," he said. Neji grew red from anger, which was unusual for him. Normally, he was on the receiving end of such looks, arousing these feelings of anger in others, but now, he was the one who was losing it. He couldn't help it. That goddamn bug ninja was just so…stoic, passive…there were a million words to describe him, but the best one was most definitely indifferent. Shino didn't seem to care about this issue and was just waiting for Neji to shut up, which made Neji quite irritated. He hadn't known that Shino was so good at pushing his buttons.

"I suppose, then that I will," Neji said, trying to come across as calm and just as indifferent as the Aburame. "It would make it easier on you. You wouldn't have me as a direct burden on you." Shino nodded and Neji turned and walked away, once again, with the air of a schoolgirl in a slight huff. Shino shook his head.

"Girls," he muttered.

Neji walked through the village, dodging passersby and blocking out rude comments thrown his way. He was preoccupied. He didn't know why it was such a big deal, though.

So I suppose it was a good thing that he soon was distracted from his thoughts by a weak cry from the distance.

Now, even though he was raised differently from others, Neji was still human, and thus fell subject to human emotion such as compassion. That emotion, coupled with worry were the two instinctive emotions that took over him at that point, and he did the first thing that he thought of; ran towards the voice.

He eventually found the source of the cry. A child; a small, innocent child was being forcibly taken from his mother and she was being beaten back. Brutally. She was smothered n cuts and bruises, with a large gash smeared across her back. Neji winced when he realized that she had been stripped of everything she wore. No doubt the men had raped her, or something to that effect, and the Hyuuga felt an indescribable anger boiling deep inside of him. He felt the adrenalin. He stepped forward, making himself known. The men released the child, who ran back to his mother, covering her and embracing her, despite her mutilated nakedness. The men smirked at Neji, and his brow creased more. How dare they smile at such a sadistic action?

"Well, well, well," one of them said. "Are you her daughter?" Neji looked at them. This was not the time for words. His words could not convey what he thought, and never would be able to. His actions, though, they might be able to carry a little bit of the fury that he felt to them, if only a scant bit.

Neji readied himself. He had argued that he was not going to waste his time with the Gentle Fist because these men were not worth it, but, when they laughed and turned their attention back to the woman and child, he couldn't help it. They're cruel laughter was getting to him. He quickly activated his Byakugan and charged at them. It was over quickly.

"8 Trigrams, 64 Palms!" the prodigy shouted. He spun around gracefully, pounding his chakra enforced fingers into their stomachs and chests, mercilessly punishing them for their deed. They fell over, dead and Neji turned to the woman and her child. She gasped and clutched her child to her breast, protecting him. Neji's face showed his concern and worry as he knelt down beside her, and she relaxed slightly. Neji removed his shirt without hesitance and handed it to her, so he was only wearing a mesh shirt. The woman looked painfully grateful as she quickly wrapped the shirt around her child. Neji looked around for something that she could wear and decided on giving her the clothes of her assaulters. Being picky was not something he could afford.

Adorned in an oversized shirt and pair of pants, the woman tried to stand, but Neji stopped her and lifted her into his arms. He was surprised at how small she was, but that surprise soon turned to sympathy. She was starving. He quickly turned and hurried back to the inn. He needed a healer.


	8. Chapter 8

"Shino, where did Neji go?" Tenten asked Shino as she came out of the inn, realizing the Hyuuga wasn't there. Shino stood and turned to her.

"He went off to look around, apparently," he said. "I'm not sure what he's doing, or where he went, for that matter." Tenten sighed and went to aid the others in their quest to find a decent meal, leaving Shino alone once again. The Aburame boy stood silently, watching the early dawn transform into day. He tore his eyes away from the beautiful sight and he saw something that surprised him. Something was rushing towards him, and upon closer inspection he realized it was Neji; Neji, carrying something and without his beige shirt, which was covering whatever he was holding. Shino stepped forward as Neji reached him and had to stifle a gasp. In the Hyuuga's arms was a woman, a small and starved woman, donned in bloodstained clothes, and clutching a small child, who was covered by Neji's shirt, which was also bloodstained. The Aburame extended his hands, offering to take the woman from Neji, but the Hyuuga refused; an odd expression on his face. Shino stepped back. He looked at the woman, in her oversized crimson spattered clothes, then the child, covered by Neji's shirt, then to the brunette boy himself, wearing a black mesh shirt, with an expression of determination dominating his normally skeptical face. Shino sighed and held his arms out. Neji noticed his black insects emerge from his large sleeve to fly off towards the more heavily populated area of the village. The woman gasped at the sight of the bugs and held her child tighter. The child shut his eyes and burrowed into his mother. Shino looked at them and then at Neji, before slowly removing his jacket, revealing a black t-shirt, and placing it around Neji's shoulders. The Hyuuga's eyebrows shot up and before he could say anything, Shino had sped off in the direction of his bugs. Neji sighed and quickly entered the inn and found their rooms. He entered the first one and found that, to his enormous relief, it was empty. He carefully laid the woman down on the bed and sat down on the floor. Thankfully, the bed was low, barely more than a mattress, so he could still see her. The woman turned her head to him and looked at him inquiringly.

"Wh-who are you?" she rasped. Neji signaled for her to be silent so as to not waste her strength, but proceeded to answer her question.

"I'm Hyuuga Neji," he said softly. "Please, rest. My companion will be back here soon with medical aid. You need not worry any longer about being harmed." The woman smiled gratefully at him and said quietly, "Thank you for letting my son use your shirt." Her eyes gradually closed and soon she fell asleep, her breathing steady and peaceful, her arms still loosely wrapped around her already sleeping son. Neji watched her and felt a familiar longing emotion begin to well up inside of him. Had his mother survived childbirth, would this be how she regarded him? With the same love and undying affection with which this mother regarded her child? The thought tugged at the cells of Neji's brain and he could not answer it, and his eyes soon became slightly moist. _Damn! _Neji thought. _Don't cry now! My God, I can't afford to go to pieces every time I see something like this! _He quickly and consciously rubbed at his eyes until they were dry.

Not a moment later, Shino hurried through the door, followed by Sai. Neji was on his feet immediately, signaling for them to be quiet, indicating to the sleeping mother and child on the bed. Sai looked at the Hyuuga for a moment and then smiled slightly. She nodded to him and went over to the woman and boy. She kneeled down and examined the cuts and bruises they sported. She quickly and deftly turned the child to face her. Neji tensed, but the boy did not wake. Sai shut her eyes and focused her chakra, a soft green light forming around her hands and filling the cuts and softening the bruises. Soon the child was without injuries and the mother, with her nearly mangled and bloodied body, was the only one yet to be healed. Sai turned to Neji and looked at him. Neji saw in her eyes what she did not speak out loud; "I need to wake her." He nodded and watched the healer nin gently shake the woman awake. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw Sai, a look of worry taking over her features. She turned to Neji and he nodded. The woman relaxed. She let Sai gently take the child from her and watched as the brunette shinobi handed him to Neji. The young prodigy took the child and held him tenderly, though growing quickly confused as the sleeping child wrapped his arms around his neck. The woman turned back to Sai and tried to sit up, but Sai placed a hand on her shoulder, silently advising her otherwise. She turned to Shino and Neji and said, "Can you wait outside?" Shino nodded, but Neji hesitated. The Aburame placed his hands on Neji's shoulders, still covered with his jacket and he led the latter out of the room. Sai couldn't prevent a smile as she watched the two leave, Neji in Shino's jacket, holding a small child close to him, and Shino with his hands gently positioned on Neji's shoulders. _They look like a couple. _Sai remarked in her thoughts. She smirked as she decided not to tell them that.

She turned back to the woman.

"Please," she said. "I don't mean to sound forward, but would you take of your shirt? I can have a better access point without clothes getting in the way, and I need to see where your wounds are." The woman nodded, slightly nervous and she slowly removed her shirt. Sai quickly scanned her torso and asked her to turn around. The woman repositioned herself on the bed, so her back was facing Sai. The Yoshikawa gasped. A large red gash at least a foot long and two inches wide was the source of most of the bleeding. Without hesitating, Sai once again built up her chakra and then placed her hands on the wound, causing the woman to cry out and pull away.

"Please, I cannot heal you if I cannot have access to your wounds," Sai said patiently. "You have already lost a large amount of blood, and any more would result in your death." She looked imploringly at the woman, who nodded and sat still as Sai once again placed her hands on the wound. This time, the mother winced but did not move as Sai's hands began glowing with a light of the softest green there was. The woman felt the pain in her back slowly easing away as the wound slowly mended.

A bead of sweat rolled down Sai's forehead as she held her hands steadily in place, trying not to falter. That would be fatal. She kept her eyes on the gash and focused her chakra to its core and healed the cells that had been damaged, working her way to the outside, and eventually, getting the wound to start closing itself. The woman winced as her skin stretched, but then relaxed as she felt new skin cells regenerating at amazing speed, thanks to the brunette shinobi beside her.

Finally, the great gash was fully healed and the woman turned to Sai in thanks, but Sai stopped her.

"There's still one more process to go through," she said. "You're still not fully healed." She handed the woman her shirt and the woman put it gratefully back on. Sai leaned towards her and placed her hand on the mother's head. Her eyes shut and she sagged slightly, but the woman's arms shot up and caught her, holding her up with strength she did not know she had. Sai began to writhe slightly and she moaned. The woman's brow creased with worry as Sai's hand fell from her head and she realized that the healer was unconscious.

"Neji!" she shouted, hoping the young shinobi who had saved her could help the Yoshikawa.

Neji was with her in an instant, handing the now healed woman her child and lifting the out cold Sai into his arms. Shino followed him and looked at Sai.

"It's nothing to worry about," Neji said to the nervous woman. "It's all a part of the healing process. She'll come around." He placed Sai on the second bed in the room, and turned back to the woman.

"How did she do?" he asked. The woman looked at the young kunoichi in awe and admiration.

"She healed me completely," she whispered, her voice now sounding much stronger than it had. Now that her face was void of scars and marks, Neji could see her clearly. He was surprised at how young she was. She looked to be about seventeen at most. Her eyes were violet and matched her hair, which was cropped neatly short except for two wavy strands at the front. She was small and fragile. She needed food, anyone could tell that, but, besides that she looked perfectly healthy. Neji looked over to Sai and smiled. _She did it again. _He thought. He turned back to the woman and asked, "If you don't mind, would you tell me your name?" The woman looked at him and nodded.

"It's Shinju," she said. Neji smiled. _Pearl._

"It suits you," he said. Shinju went slightly pink. "What is your son's name?" Shinju turned to look at her young child warmly.

"Hajime," she said softly. _Beginning. _Neji looked at the boy thoughtfully.

"When did you have him?" he asked. The woman looked at him.

"Three years ago," she answered seriously. "When I was fourteen." Neji winced and Shino looked down. They were both thinking the same thing. She was raped. Neji looked at Shinju and saw that she had tears in her eyes, no doubt from the pain of remembering. He stood and walked to her. He took Shino's coat from his shoulders and held it out before hesitating. He looked to Shino and the bug nin nodded, and Neji placed the coat around her small body. She looked up and smiled at him through tears, before reaching out and embracing him. Neji was surprised, but soon forgot about his shock and leaned into her, feeling the kind of motherly love that he craved so much.

By that time Sai had awaken and was now watching Neji and the woman with a small smile. She turned to Shino and saw a smile playing at his lips as well, though she wasn't sure whether or not she imagined it; it was so fleeting.

After a moment Neji pulled away.

"Well, if you're alright, then I suppose we should get you back home," he said. Shinju looked at him.

"But I was trying to leave," she said. Neji, Shino and Sai all looked at her. She continued.

"I wanted to take my son to the village of Konohagakure so we could live there," she whispered, slightly embarrassed, and having recognized that these were Konoha shinobi long before. Sai smiled and stood. She walked over to Shinju and placed a hand on the woman's shoulder, which Shinju grasped tightly.

"We can help you get to Konoha," she said. "But I don't know if we can have you travel with us. You may well end up in more danger with us than you would be here." Neji looked at Sai, not able to believe what he was about to say.

"We can't leave her here," he said. "She could be assaulted again." Sai looked at him.

"I realize how you must feel," she said. Neji was about to protest when the thought occurred to him; she was being truthful. He shut his mouth and let her continue.

"We should at least appeal to Gai Sensei and Kurenai Sensei," she said.

"They most likely won't agree," Neji said through teeth gritted in determination. He felt a hand on his rather bare shoulder and his head snapped around to see Shino, his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses, but his mouth in a soft line, no longer hidden by the large collar that once covered it. Neji calmed.

"I know that you would like to prevent this child from suffering the same fate you suffered," Shino whispered so softly only Neji could hear. "But, you must show regard for the rules and regulations of the shinobi." He paused and looked hard at Neji, who held his gaze.

"Don't be like Naruto," Shino said. Neji smiled slightly and his hand unconsciously found its way to Shino's on his shoulder. Shinju and Sai smiled. Neji suddenly became aware of others in the room and turned to face them, letting his hand fall to his side, and feeling Shino's retreat back to his own side, leaving his shoulder empty once more.

"Fine, I will consult Gai Sensei about it," he said, before pausing. "I think, actually, I should talk to Kurenai Sensei first." He bowed and said," Excuse me." He turned and left, Shino following him out, Sai and Shinju still smiling.

"Is Neji always like that around that boy?" Shinju asked. Sai shrugged.

"It certainly seems that Shino has the capability of calming Neji down almost effortlessly," Sai said. "He seems to be the only one who has that effect on Neji." Shinju giggled.

"I know that feeling," she said wryly, gathering her son into her lap and cuddling with him. Hajime laughed and hugged his mother tightly. Sai looked on, thinking about the supposed "feeling" Shinju was talking about.


	9. Chapter 9

Neji walked out into the day and turned to Shino, who had followed him.

"Where did Kurenai Sensei go?" he asked. Shino looked to his right.

"She and everyone went looking for a meal," he said. "They split up into groups of two, I believe. Kurenai, I believe is with Kimiko. They went that way." He pointed no where in particular, just a general direction. Neji sighed, becoming irritated.

"Could you be more specific in your directions?" he asked, trying to keep the unpleasant emotion out of his voice. Shino just dropped his arm and shrugged.

"I wasn't watching where they were going," he said. "I was watching the sunrise." Neji raised a fine brow. Shino, watching the sunrise? That seemed…unusual to Neji. Realizing that the Hyuuga heir was looking at him, Shino said, "What?" Neji shrugged and said, "Nothing." He turned and went in the direction Shino pointed. Shino turned and headed back to the inn to wait for everyone there.

"That was an unusual display," Sai said bluntly. Shino sat down and said, "Hn." Shinju placed Hajime on the bed beside her and looked at Shino.

"Do you really care for him?" she asked. Shino turned to look at her. She looked back at him innocently and unknowingly.

"Hn," Shino said again. Sai rolled her eyes looked at Shinju.

"I'll go see if I can find everyone," she said. Shino realized what she was doing, but couldn't do anything to prevent it. He just sighed as he was left alone with the mother and child.

"Here," Shinju said. "Thank you for letting me use your coat." Shino turned and saw that she was holding out the jacket that he had placed on Neji previously, and that Neji had let her use in place of the bloodied clothes. He walked over to her and pushed it back.

"I don't need it right now," he said. "You do. You can't continue to wear those…clothes." He indicated the shirt she was wearing and she looked sheepish.

"But are you sure it's alright?" she asked timidly. Shino nodded.

"Perhaps, if it makes you that uncomfortable," he started. "We can get you some new clothes to wear?" Shinju reddened. She distracted herself by fussing with Hajime's hair, but eventually had to answer Shino's question. She sighed.

"I have no money," she squeaked, embarrassed. The Aburame shrugged.

"I do," he said. "I'll buy you the clothes." Shinju gasped.

"But you and your teammates have already done so much for me!" she protested. "I would feel…"

"Uncomfortable?" Shino finished. Shinju made a small noise and nodded, still very red.

"I understand," Shino said. "But, you cannot honestly mean to tell me that clothes caked in blood are comfortable." Shinju looked down and moved her head once to the right.

"I thought not," Shino said. "Please allow me this privilege." Shinju looked at him, smiled shyly and nodded a little unsurely. She stood from the bed and picked up Hajime, holding him to her, and walked over to Shino. The bug nin turned and walked out the door, followed by Shinju and her son.

"Do you know any places that sell decent clothes?" Shino asked. Shinju nodded.

"There is one," she said. "But the people there are pretty rude and might try to cheat you out of your money." Shino scoffed quietly. Shinju may not have known it, but no one could ever rip off Aburame Shino. It was impossible.

Shino and Shinju arrived at the shop Shinju had mentioned in minutes. It was a very quick visit. Shino asked Shinju what appealed to her, and Shinju selected a beautiful red yukata that suited her very well. Shino suggested that Hajime get something as well, but Shinju was hesitant. She didn't want Shino to use more money on her than necessary, but Shino insisted. So she selected a fine blue yukata for him. As it turned out, she was right about the shopkeeper trying to cheat him out of his money. That was a bad mistake on the shopkeeper's part. Shino had literally grabbed his collar and pulled him almost all the way over the counter to ask in his face, in a deadly whisper if he was trying to cheat him. The frightened man in Shino's iron grip quickly insisted that it had been a mistake and promptly lowered the price to something reasonable, to which Shino agreed. They left immediately after purchasing Shinju's and Hajime's clothes.

"Thank you, Shino-san," Shinju stuttered, still quite rattled by that episode in the shop. Shino shrugged.

"It was no problem," he said, his face hidden by his collar (he now had his jacket back and had helped Shinju and Hajime into their yukata.).

They walked in silence for a few moments until they passed a flower shop. Shinju stopped and went up to admire a beautiful Acacia flower. Shino stopped and waited for her.

"Shino-san, come here and look at this!" she called. Shino complied and walked over to her. She held up a beautiful bunch of acacias, and her face was bright.

"These would be perfect for Neji-san," she said innocently.

"Well, if you want to give them to him, I'll but them for you," Shino said. Shinju shook her head.

"No, I meant you could give them to him," she clarified. Shino blinked behind his sunglasses.

"What?" he asked, genuinely confused. Shinju smiled.

"Well, flowers are symbolic," she said simply. "Different flowers have different meanings. Azalea flower means temperance. The Chrysanthemum flower means 'I love you', and so on." Shino blinked, suspicious.

"What does the acacia flower symbolize?" he asked. Shinju smiled.

"It symbolizes friendship," she said. "And secret love, if it's yellow." Shino could only look at the woman before him holding a bunch of YELLOW acacia flowers, and a mischievous gleam shown in her eyes.

"And you want me to give those to Hyuuga Neji?" he asked. Shinju winked.

"I only thought you would want to," she said wryly.

"Why would I want to?" he asked.

"Why wouldn't you?" she shot back. Shino didn't respond, just turned and walked away. Shinju put the flowers back and followed him, trying to stifle a giggle. Hajime followed bouncily.

"Where were you?" Tenten approached Shino and noticed the two people behind him. She smiled.

"Are you Shinju and Hajime?" she asked. Shinju nodded a little shyly. Tenten walked up to her.

"I figured," she said. "Sai told us about you. I'm Tenten. Is Hajime your son?" Shinju nodded and Tenten giggled and put a gentle hand on the child's head. Hajime squeaked happily and grabbed Tenten's hand.

"Play!" he cried. Shinju looked pleasantly surprised.

"He wants to play with you," she said. "Would you mind terribly?" Tenten smiled and shook her head. Shinju handed the small boy to the weapon shinobi and the boy clapped happily.

"Tenten!" he shouted. Tenten was horrible at hiding her beaming face. Lee grinned and went over to her.

"Such a youthful child!" he said. "So innocent and beautiful! Come, Tenten, I shall play with you two!" He grabbed Tenten's arm and led her over to a small clear field behind the inn. Shinju's face was pink from trying to keep herself from laughing. So was almost everybody else's. Except Gai's.

"That's my student!!" he cried, proud tears spilling from his eyes. Kurenai, still trying to stifle giggles, walked over to Gai and placed a comradely hand on his shoulder, not trusting herself to speak. Naruto seemed to be basking in the fact that Lee was an even bigger idiot than he was, and Neji was trying to hide a grin. Lee had that effect. On everyone.

Kurenai was the first to regain composure. She turned to Shinju and asked carefully, "Well, Shinju, I think we would all like to hear a bit of your story if you don't mind. At least how Neji found you." Shinju looked at the young ebon haired Jounin and nodded. She took a deep breath and explained how she ended up where she was when Neji found her and how Neji had found and saved her and her son. She finished relatively quickly and Kurenai looked thoughtful.

"Well," she said, her face beginning to lose its optimistic glow. "I'm sorry, but we can't--" Sai stepped forward and cut the older kunoichi off.

"I'll take her back," she offered. "I can probably get to Konoha and back relatively quick enough, and I know what to say to the Hokage that would convince her to let Shinju stay there." She looked around at her companions. Kurenai, she knew, was a very compassionate shinobi, despite being a stickler when it came to rules, and Gai…well, Gai was _Gai._ Enough said. Neji looked at Sai gratefully. Gai stepped forward.

"I say, we let Sai take Shinju and Hajime back to Konoha!" he boomed. "It shall be a youthful test of speed to determine how fast she can reach us after running to Konoha! Push yourself, Sai! I believe you can do it. And if you cannot, I will run five hundred laps around the Leaf Village blindfolded, with bricks strapped to my arms!" Lee, fortunately, had not heard this, as he was busy being chased by Tenten for having accidentally made Hajime cry by scaring him with the nice-guy pose.

"Well, then I'll be sure to return as quickly as my shinobi skills allow, for I would certainly not wish to see you suffer self-punishment on my account," Sai said. Gai beamed. Kurenai stepped up to Sai and looked at her.

"If you want to do this, fine," she said. "But we will need you later. And if anyone else can be brought, by all means, bring them as well." She stopped and gave Sai a look that clearly said, "We're going to need all the help we can get." Sai smirked and nodded. She turned to Shinju.

"I think we should leave now, while the day's still young," she said. Shinju nodded, a slightly pained look on her face.

"Wait a moment, please," she said. Sai nodded, and Shinju turned to Neji. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Thank you, Hyuuga Neji, for helping me, when I needed it," she said. She leaned into him and placed a small kiss on his forehead and then embraced him. Neji went slightly red, but drew his arms up around Shinju. Kimiko looked away.

When Neji pulled away, he looked at the young woman and said, "It's nice to know you, Shinju. May we see each other again in Konoha." Shinju nodded, smiling.

"I'll make sure of it," she said. With one last, grateful look at the Hyuuga, she went to collect Hajime.

Gai turned to Neji.

"Youthful love is so wonderful, is it not, my genius student?" he said, a hint of emotion in his voice. Neji sighed and smirked.

"Why, yes it is, my genius sensei," he replied, hiding the sarcasm of it all. Gai looked at him in surprise, but quickly recovered himself, and beamed.

Shinju bid Lee and Tenten good bye and then left the village, riding Sai's back much like the Nagasani's had been carried. She turned as much as she could and gave everyone, Neji in particular, a small wave. Then she was out of sight.

Kimiko approached Neji timidly.

"D-do you think she'll be alright?" she asked. Neji did not turn to her as he answered.

"She's with Sai," he said. "She'll be just fine." Kimiko smiled.

"You sound happy to be saying that," she said. Neji turned to look at her.

"I suppose I am," he said, his stoic manner returning. Kimiko, hearing the slight edge of annoyance in his voice, bobbed her head nervously and scurried away.


	10. Chapter 10

The moon was large and round, scattering the violet nightshade and bathing the land in a soft light. Clouds did not show to ruin the beauty of the many dancing stars that resided in the sky, high above the land.

Kiku walked through the village, quietly and quickly, not really knowing where she was going.

She stopped and looked up at the sky. The moon looked down at her and she let its warm glow envelope her, and she relaxed. She saw something, then. She saw her sisters' faces. She saw her family's faces, and she saw her own face, all in the moon. Her head snapped away from the moon, as the guilt filled her. She knew it was her fault; knew that it was because of her stupidity that they were all in this situation. She knew it, but she hated it. And, now the only person who really knew how she felt about it was gone.

Kiku's mind flashed to Sai. She sighed and shook the image from her mind. She had to find a different way to cope now. Why was life so hard?

"Kiku?" Kiku spun around and saw Kimiko approaching her nervously. Her sister's wavy ebon locks were lit up by the moon's light, and her pale skin was illuminated by it. Kiku couldn't help but smile slightly.

"What do you want sister?" she said, trying to keep the coldness from her voice. "I thought you didn't trust me anymore." Kimiko smiled apologetically.

"No," she said. "I've always trusted you. I just had to talk to you about…well, about this." She paused and Kiku looked confused, but then walked over to the younger Nagasani and placed her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Sai told you, didn't she?" she asked. Kimiko went red and nodded.

"She told me the real reason that you wanted to keep the truth a secret, and I understood," she said. She looked up and brought her own slender hand to her sister's face and traced it along her sister's contours. "But I don't understand why you didn't tell us." Kiku broke away from her sister's touch and turned away from her, silent. Kimiko persisted.

"Why didn't you think to come to us?" she pleaded. "I've known and looked up to you for my entire life, and to know that you don't trust me with something like this..!" She broke off and took a breath.

"It hurts!" she shouted, and she saw Kiku flinch.

"But you already knew what I had heard," Kiku whispered. Kimiko shook her head.

"But, you never once confided in me your feelings," she said, on the verge of tears. "Why?" Kiku turned her head slightly and saw that Kimiko was on her knees. Her anguish was clear.

"I don't know," Kiku said. "My reasoning then was I didn't want you or Kyoko to feel like I was falling apart. I had to set an example for you, after all." Kiku was then forced around to face Kimiko. The younger girl's hands clasped her shoulders tightly, her eyes showed a determined spark that was only ever there on rare occasions, and her face was set. She looked Kiku right in the eye.

"If you're falling apart we, Kyoko and I need to know," she said firmly. "A false sense of security is the one thing that I know can lead to death. Please, don't feel that you need to hide something from us to keep us safe. It doesn't work that way." Kiku felt tears playing at her eyes and was about to blink them away when the full impact of what Kimiko was saying reached her. Slowly, very slowly, Kiku reached her arms up around Kimiko's back and she pulled the younger girl into her. Kimiko heard felt her sister quivering against her and comforted her silently.

They stood there, out in the moon, embracing each other softly, comforting each other warmly; two sisters, their bond renewed.

When morning came the Konoha shinobi were ready. Unfortunately, not everyone else was. Kiu and Yoshi had managed to keep some money and were out buying a meal for them and their daughters. Kyoko waited nervously with the shinobi. Kiku and Kimiko had yet to return.

Kyoko's hands were clasped within each other and her knuckles were white from the applied pressure. Naruto saw this and went over to her.

"Don't worry," he said, grinning. "They're gonna be here, believe it!" Kyoko smiled at Naruto and he blushed.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun," she said. "I'm sure you're right, but, it seems that since they're both my sisters it is my duty to worry over them." She closed her eyes and giggled, deceiving everyone except Naruto. He smiled genuinely.

"Come on," he said. "If you're so worried, then let's go look for them!" He put an arm around her shoulder and pulled the slightly red girl away from the group.

"Naruto, hold on!" Kurenai shouted. Neji followed after him.

"Naruto, if you leave and they come back, then we'll have to go looking for you," he said. Naruto turned to him.

"Shut up, Neji," he said. "It's not your sisters that are missing." Neji opened his mouth, expecting a witty retort to come out, but nothing was there. He was thoroughly surprised, but he shut his mouth as Naruto turned and went off with Kyoko. Neji stared after them and shook his head. He turned back to Kurenai.

"Don't say I didn't try," he said.

Behind Kurenai, Shino spoke up.

"They're going to find them," he said. Everyone turned to him.

"How do you know?" Neji asked, irritated. Shino looked forward.

"My bugs have already found her," he said. "Naruto only did that because I told him to. One of my insects is going to lead them to Kiku and Kimiko." Everyone stood in silent awe, except Neji, who stood in silent frustration. This day was not going so well for him so far.

Naruto walked through the village, leading Kyoko to the place that he knew her two sisters were. She followed uncertainly.

"Um…Are you sure you know where you're going?" she asked timidly. Naruto turned to her and smirked.

"You sound just like Hinata!" he laughed. "Don't worry; I know where I'm going, believe it. Just trust me." He looked at her and waited for her to respond. Kyoko looked back at him and smiled, despite herself. She couldn't help it. She seemed to find solace in those bright blue eyes. Naruto grinned and grabbed her hand.

"Come on, we're almost there!" he said loudly, making Kyoko laugh.

They continued through the village until they reached a small and secluded field just outside of the village. There Naruto stopped and Kyoko gasped. He had been right! There, before them were Kiku and Kimiko, Kimiko's head resting on Kiku's shoulder and Kiku sitting straight and cross-legged. Kyoko smiled and ran up to her sisters.

"Kiku! Kimiko!" she called. Kiku turned and Kimiko bolted up, as though she had been asleep and Kyoko's call woke her. Kiku stood and embraced her sister warmly. Kyoko looked surprised, but hugged back, and then pulled Kimiko into the embrace. Naruto watched, with a lopsided smile until the sisters pulled apart and noticed him. They walked over to him and Kiku bowed.

"Naruto-san," she said. "I apologize if I worried you about our absence. We were intending to go back soon, but I see everyone must be worried about us." Naruto smirked.

"I wasn't worried, I kinda figured you'd come back pretty soon, but everyone else was all nervous so I volunteered to take your sister and come find you," Naruto said proudly. Kiku smiled.

"Arigato, Naruto," she said. "Shall we go back, then?" Naruto nodded and strutted back to the inn, the three sisters, arms linked, following all the way.

"I found them, believe it!" Naruto shouted upon returning. Kurenai turned and saw that the three sisters were, indeed right with him. She walked up to them and surveyed them carefully, to ensure that no harm had come to them. When she was satisfied, she turned to Kiu and Yoshi.

"Your daughters are here, and safe," she said. "And, if you are ready, I believe we should get going." The parents nodded and hurried to their children, embracing them and expressing their slight worry at having been made to wait longer than usual.

As Neji observed the sight, he noticed that Kiku seemed a little less…on edge than usual. Did Naruto say something to her? It seemed likely. He had, after all, snapped the Hyuuga out of his own destiny reverie during their fight at the Chuunin Exams. The prodigy bristled slightly at the thought. It irked him a little that the blonde idiot had such an influence over people, and he found himself the subject of jealousy.

He was so wrapped up in his mixed emotions that he didn't notice Kimiko walking hesitantly towards him.

"H-Hyuuga-san?" she spluttered. Neji turned to face her. He bowed.

"Can I help you with something, Kimiko?" he asked. Kimiko reddened and looked down. She took a breath and composed herself, rather excellently, actually, before facing Neji again.

"I have to speak to you about the woman who just left with Sai," she said. "Shinju?" Neji raised an eyebrow.

"What about her?" he said, a hint of defensiveness creeping into his voice. Kimiko looked straight at him and did not falter in her answer.

"I notice she did not give you her clan name, yes?" she asked. Neji shook his head, suspicion boiling in the pit of his stomach. Kimiko continued.

"As it happens, she is a member of the Igarashi clan," she finished. Neji was silent. He processed this information at his mind. Shinju was an Igarashi? Was this truth, or was this a lie coming from Kimiko? Why would she have reason to lie to him? But, then why would Shinju have reason to lie to him? He looked at Kimiko, and ultimately decided that it had to be the Nagasani girl before him who was the liar. He felt the suspicion inside him turn to anger.

"Do you speak truth?" he asked, trying to keep his voice calm. Kimiko looked at him, and, apparently was able to tell that he did not believe her, and raised her own brow.

"Why would I have reason to lie?" she asked, doing a much better job of maintaining herself than the brunette boy. "I have no reason to suppose that she is an evil person, and I certainly am in no position to interfere with her or your own personal relations. I speak truthfully!" She looked at Neji imploringly and he still did not believe her. However, before he could make any further accusation, Kimiko held up a hand.

"Hear me," she said firmly, and Neji was surprised at this new attitude. "I am telling you the truth, but I am not accusing her of anything _other _than being an Igarashi. I meant to tell you that there are certain branches of the Igarashi clan, much like those of your Hyuuga clan, that have more or less power than others. Some of these branches do not believe in fighting with the Nagasani's for land. They believe in peaceful negotiations. It is not the entire Igarashi clan that means to fight, to put it simply.

"Igarashi Shinju, and her son, Hajime are of the main Igarashi branch, and were trying to escape from them. I saw them as we were leaving. She probably did not tell you this because she saw us with you and did not wish to become involved in any further affairs with the Nagasani's or Igarashi's." She stopped and waited for Neji to reply. At first the Byakugan user merely looked at her. After a moment, he asked her, "Why tell _me _this?" Kimiko smiled slightly and her cheeks showed faintly pink.

"You seemed to be the closest to her," she said simply. "I thought you would benefit most from this information. And…" She paused. "I thought you might be angry if you had found out about it later and in an undesirable way." She looked down, but felt the boy's hand on her shoulder and she put her hand to her mouth to hide a gasp. She looked up and he was smiling at her. It wasn't a smirk, nor a grimace, nor a grin, but a genuine smile. After a moment, she timidly returned it.

"Thank you Nagasani Kimiko," Neji said. "I appreciate knowing this." He bowed and led her to her parents and went to Kurenai and the others to receive instruction.

"Hey, Lover boy," Naruto smirked. "What were you two love birds talking about?" Neji only looked at him.

"Is that supposed to get a reaction out of me?" he asked. Naruto's smirk faltered and then changed to a pout.

"Shut up, Neji!" he shouted, his voice whiney.

"Gladly," Neji said. He shut his mouth and smirked at Naruto, who glared back at him. Shino shook his head and turned to Kurenai.

"When are we leaving?" he asked. Kurenai tore her disapproving gaze away from Naruto to look at Shino.

"As soon as everyone's ready," she replied. She turned to the Nagasani's, who were currently trying to fit everything they had bought into their pockets. Lee and Tenten were helping them, but Tenten got fed up, shouted something at Lee, who saluted and started working faster, while Tenten walked over to her sensei.

"It's impossible to get these people ready," she huffed. "I can't believe how much money they had. They just went wild! And in a run-down town like this, no less!" She sighed and put a hand to her temple. Neji sighed sympathetically.

"Well, it looks like they're almost ready," Naruto said. Tenten looked and saw that they were, indeed almost done stuffing their already bulging pockets. Kimiko, Kiku and Kyoko were standing to the side, looking thoroughly embarrassed that their parents should be behaving in such a way at such a time. Lee finally helped Yoshi push a small brown bag into his left pocket and took them over to the other Konoha shinobi. He looked seriously annoyed, which wasn't like him at all. The Nagasani's must love to shop, Neji deduced. He shook his head and went over to Kimiko. He turned around and helped her onto his back, as others did the same. Kurenai turned to them all.

"We don't have Sai with us for now, so everyone has to be ten times as careful as before!" she said firmly. "Don't let anything happen to the Nagasani's! We're about half way to the Land of Lightning." Neji conjured up a mental image of the map they had quickly scanned before leaving Konoha and swiftly estimated the number of days it should take to reach the Land of Lightning, assuming they don't have anymore run-ins with enemy shinobi and don't stop to rest more than once more for the remaining portion of the journey.

He quickly snapped back to reality as Kurenai and the others sped off and out of the village Arata and onto the Land of Lightning.


	11. Chapter 11

The rest of their journey to the Land of Lightning had taken no more than three days, as Neji predicted and they didn't encounter any enemy shinobi whatsoever, which was very fortunate for them.

They arrived in their hidden village, Kumogakure, the Village Hidden in the Clouds.

"Be careful," Kiu said, upon entering the village. "The Raikage has chosen to ignore this matter, as it presents no real threat to the village or the country." She spoke in a disgusted way that made it apparent to everyone that she was ashamed of the Raikage's failure to recognize and deal with pressing situations. Tenten looked at her.

"Have you told him about it?" she asked. Yoshi looked at her and nodded.

"Many times," he said in as disapproving way as his wife. "But he refuses to listen to us. He didn't even recognize the Igarashi's attempts to assassinate us!" He broke off, his face contorted with anger. Kiku placed a hand on her father's shoulder, and turned to Kurenai.

"You should probably remove your headbands," she said. "Many of the citizens here are still bitter towards Konoha for the death of the previous Raikage, Gashira, at the hands of Hyuuga Hiashi." Neji tensed and noticed that everyone was glancing nervously at him, as it was his father who had been sacrificed in place of Hiashi. It was clear to him that they believed he might react in an irrational way may cost them dearly. He sighed.

"I'm not going to be rash," he said. "These people did nothing. I'm not like Naruto." He had said this in an attempt to lighten the mood. It worked, and Naruto glared at him and shouted, "Hey!" Neji smirked and removed his headband. When no one else did, he said, "It's going to be obvious to any Igarashi's we pass that we were hired by Nagasani Yoshi and Kiu. It would be best for all of us this way." Slowly, the other shinobi nodded and removed their headbands. Kiku looked slightly relieved.

"Neji," she said. "I'm sorry, but I cannot guarantee that citizens here will not attempt to be cruel to you, as you do look just like the one that was…" She stopped and looked down, embarrassed. Neji smiled.

"Don't feel guilty about it," he said. "I can handle ridicule, and they don't dare do more to me, as they can tell I'm a Hyuuga and possess the Byakugan as any other Hyuuga does." Kiku nodded and attempted a smile to return Neji's but couldn't manage it.

"Alright, then let's see about finding a place to sleep," Kurenai said. Tenten looked nervously at Kiu.

"But, isn't it a little too dangerous for you to be back so soon?" she asked. "The Igarashi's are probably looking for you everywhere. Wouldn't it be safer to seek refuge in another village?" To everyone's surprise, it was Naruto who answered.

"No, we can't stay in another village, believe it!" he said. "We need to destroy the Igarashi's, so we've gotta be as close to them as we can!" Tenten noticed that Naruto's eyes lit up as he said this. _Well, that's just like Naruto. _She thought wearily. _Trust him to be excited about life-threatening situations. _She shook her head and turned to Gai.

"Alright, let's go find someplace to stay," she sighed. Gai grinned widely.

"Onward, my youthful companions!" he shouted, commanding the attention of not only the other Konoha shinobi, but also most of the people around him. "We shall not falter as we search for a place in which we can rest and build our strength for the battle that awaits us! Lee! My passionate student! Follow me and we shall search for a youthful inn of truth and diligence!" Lee was at immediate and rapt attention, saluting his rather overenthusiastic, to put it lightly, sensei.

"Hai! Gai-Sensei!" he shouted. "I shall do everything I can to secure my companions safe and enjoyable sleeping arrangements!" His eyes flared and Gai bit back tears, muttering things that were indiscernible to the others, but Neji could have sworn he caught things like, "So youthful…" and, "…My wonderful student…" coming from his mouth. The prodigy shook his head and sighed.

"Can we just find a place to stay, please?" he asked impatiently. Gai turned to Neji and said, "Yes! Let us go now!" He turned and marched proudly in no particular direction, followed by Lee, just as hyper and "youthful" as his sensei. Kurenai sighed, but followed, as did everyone else.

As it turned out, Kiku was right about the citizens still being bitter about the incident with the Hyuuga clan. However, "bitter" seemed to be an understatement. The proper word was most definitely "infuriated." Every time Neji turned a corner he was met with cruel glances and hisses from pedestrians and passersby. Some people even threw things at him. Being a Hyuuga, he was able to avoid it easily, but he didn't attempt to correct it or prevent it. He just continued down the streets as though nothing were happening.

What was unusual was that Shino had taken to walking incredibly close to the Hyuuga after he had endured numerous rude comments and had almost been hit by a brick. Neji found this odd, but didn't object. On the contrary, he seemed to like it when the Aburame walked so close to him. He soon expelled these thoughts form his mind, though, as they were both unusual and unwelcome.

Naruto was openly angry at the citizens for being so rude to his friend and had even shouted at a two of them, one who had tried to pour boiling water on Neji, and the other, who had almost unleashed a large dog on him. Neji had, both times, managed to calm Naruto, telling the hyperactive blonde that it didn't bother him.

"Come on, Neji, you're not telling me that you're just going to take this crap from these bastards!" Naruto had shouted. Neji had only snickered and shook his head.

"Thank you, Naruto, for being concerned, but there's not much I can do, as that might jeopardize the mission," he had replied. Naruto then grew quiet, but still glared in the direction of anyone who made any rude comments or threw anything more at the Hyuuga.

Finally the group reached an inn that suited them all and that would have them. It was run by a kindly looking elderly woman. She looked up and smiled as the Konoha shinobi and Nagasani's entered. Neji was relieved that she didn't wince and glare at seeing him. He bowed as he approached her, showing the proper respect for her, as an elder and smiled in her direction. She showed no reaction and just continued smiling.

"How many are you?" she asked. "You sound like a dozen or so." Neji's face fell slightly as he realized that she was blind. _That was why she didn't wince at the sight of me. _He thought miserably. Still, his eyes moved to Kurenai as she answered.

"We are a dozen exactly," she said politely. "And we would like rooms that are close together, if you could manage." The woman smiled a little wider.

"What polite guests you are!" she gushed. "Well, for people like you, I can get you the best rooms we have. Would you like rooms on the first or second floor?" Kurenai shrugged slightly.

"Which ever is easiest," she said. The woman chuckled slightly.

"And very flexible, as well," she said. She was then silent for a moment as she filled left and felt her way along to one of the other staff members and instructed them to fill out the necessary paper work. Neji watched as she spoke with them and pointed in their general direction. He saw the other's gaze fall upon him and he saw her face harden. She turned back to the blind woman and stiffly filled out the paper. The woman smiled her thanks and returned to the front area where the Konoha shinobi were. She looked up at them and smiled.

"Everything is all filled out," she said. "And here are your keys." She felt around below the desk until she felt the correct keys and placed them carefully on the counter before them. "Your rooms are one twenty, one twenty-one, and one twenty-two. Down the hall to my right and the last three rooms on the left." She smiled as Kurenai took the keys. She seemed to remember something, as the shinobi started to head towards their rooms.

"Excuse me," she said, somewhat sheepishly. "I know this is rather odd, but would you allow me to feel your faces? I do that to every customer that allows me so I can memorize their faces so I can tell them apart in other ways than just voice." She looked kindly in Kurenai's direction and the Jounin agreed. The woman smiled and thanked her, promptly popping out from behind the table and reaching up slowly and moving her hands slightly roughly around the ebon haired kunoichi's face. When she finished she looked up at Kurenai with bright eyes.

"You have a very beautiful face," she said. "What is your name?" Kurenai smiled kindly at the woman.

"Arigato," she said, bowing. "My name is Yuuhi Kurenai." She stepped aside and moved Gai in front of the woman, and he leaned over as the woman reached her hands up and asked, "Who is this?"

"I am Might Gai," Gai answered proudly. The woman smiled and proceeded to feel his face as well. She paused when she reached his eyes and the thick brows that rested above them and exclaimed, "My, what large eyebrows you have!" Gai went red and let her continue.

"You have a very strong face," she smiled. "Very handsome." Naruto had to hide a laugh as Gai beamed hugely. Lee then stepped forward.

"I am Rock Lee, handsome green devil of the Hidden Leaf Village!" he said proudly. Kurenai looked slightly worried and her eyes quickly scanned the room to see if anyone had heard Lee's mistake. No one else was in the room, except the other staff member, who was still glaring at Neji.

"Rock Lee?" the woman clarified. "A proud name indeed." She reached out and felt Lee's face and her own eyebrows shot up when she reached Lee's thick brows, but she refrained from speaking until she had finished.

"My, you're shaping up to be a fine man," the woman said, smiling at Lee as well. Lee glowed and stepped to the side, pulling Tenten up to the woman. Tenten bowed.

"And who are you?" the woman asked, staring upward.

"My name is Tenten," the weapon nin said, and the woman's eyes snapped down to meet Tenten's. Tenten noticed how clear the brown irises were, despite the fact that the woman couldn't see.

"You have a beautiful voice, Tenten," the woman said. Her hands slowly found Tenten's smooth face and she traced the contours of her face. She eventually pulled away and smiled.

"Tenten, your face matches your voice," the woman said. "With skin as smooth as that, you must be the center of attention!" Tenten blushed and said, "Arigato," before stepping to the side, to be replaced by Naruto.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, old lady, and I'm going to become the greatest ninja ever!" the blonde idiot declared. The woman laughed, an old, yet soft sound, and reached out to touch his face.

"Such energy, Naruto," she said. "You'd certainly be an excellent candidate for best ninja in the world." She began to feel his face and Naruto had to struggle not to squirm. When she reached his scars she breathed, "Oh my, Naruto. What happened to you?" Naruto suddenly became awkward and couldn't answer the question. The woman sensed his reluctance and promptly apologized.

"Gomen, Naruto," she said. "I did not realize that this was a tender subject to you." Naruto quickly reddened and grinned sheepishly.

When the woman pulled away she looked seriously at Naruto.

:You have a young and whole face," she said. "You have a face that resembles that of my late son." Naruto looked at her, afraid to ask where this son was, and instead stuttered a stiff, "Arigato." The woman nodded her head and asked, "Who is next? I counted only five of you. There are at least seven of you left." Shino stepped forward and bowed.

"I am Aburame Shino," he said in a tone of respect. The woman smiled.

"Shino," she said. She was about to place her hands on his face, when he stopped her. To everyone's immense surprise, Shino removed his sunglasses and unzipped his jacket down to his neck. He was facing away from Neji and the young Hyuuga heir found himself disappointed that he couldn't see Shino's face.

The woman waited for a moment and then proceeded to feel Shino's face. Everyone was silent as she did, and when she pulled away, she whispered something so softly only Shino could hear. He bowed and muttered, "Arigato," before stepping away from her and signaling to Neji to come forward. Neji hesitated, but stepped forward swiftly and surely.

"Hyuuga Neji," he said quietly. The woman's eyes became sympathetic.

"A Hyuuga?" she asked. Neji nodded and said, "Hai." The woman nodded and stepped forward, placing her hands on Neji's face. Neji let his lavender eyes close as her soft wrinkled hands traced over his skin. Her hands lingered on his curse mark and she shuddered, before running her fingers over it slowly, stroking it. Neji felt incredible warmth spread throughout him, which disappeared when she removed her hands. His eyes snapped open and he looked at her.

"Hyuuga Neji," she said. "Do not let the jeers and hissing of these fools into the sacred caverns of your mind. They're not worth it. They are only angry because that fool was stupid enough to get caught. Be proud of your heritage." She smiled and winked at him, and Neji felt the corners of his mouth turn upward. He bowed and whispered, "Arigato." He backed away and let the Nagasani family be felt and memorized, his mind on other things.

The Hyuuga felt as light as he had when he realized the truth about his father's death, and was distant and thoughtful until a familiar voice penetrated his thoughts and said, "Neji, we're going to our rooms." Neji snapped back to reality and found himself looking into Shino's sunglasses covered eyes. He nodded dumbly and followed the Aburame to room one twenty-one. Shino unlocked the door and stepped into the room. Neji followed.

"We're going to be in here with Kimiko and Kyoko," he said. "Kiku is going to be in room one twenty with Naruto, Lee and Kurenai-Sensei, and Kiu and Yoshi are going to be in room one twenty-two with Gai-Sensei and Tenten." Neji nodded, and turned to the door as Kimiko and Kyoko entered. He smiled at them and bowed.

"You two can have the beds and Shino and I will sleep on the floor," he said. Shino nodded. Kimiko looked flustered.

"But, there are two beds," she said. "Wouldn't it just be easier if Kyoko and I shared a bed and you and Shino shared the other? They're both large enough for two people." Neji blinked and internally blushed at Kimiko's failure to realize the awkwardness that that situation would put him in. Shino, sharing a bed with him? That just wasn't right!

Neji vehemently shook his head while Shino shrugged.

"If you insist on it, I suppose it might work," the bug nin said calmly. Kimiko went even redder in the face, now looking exactly like Hinata.

"Well, if it would be too uncomfortable for you, than I would understand your wanting to sleep on the floor," she said, speaking more to Neji than to Shino. Neji could clearly tell that she would be much too awkward having a bed all to herself and leaving him and Shino on the floor, and might even lose sleep over it, so, after much debate, he reluctantly agreed.

For the rest of the day, he remained in the room, reluctant to venture back into the world of people who completely hated his guts. He knew it shouldn't bother him; knew that their opinions shouldn't matter to him, but he couldn't help it. He just didn't like the constant comments about his "pathetic, superior family of whelps" as a woman at a fruit market had described it, before being stared down by, Shino, who was now sitting in the room with Neji, reading a small book the blind woman had lent him.

Neji sighed and went to sit on the floor. He sat straight and stiff, his knees folded underneath him, his hands folded on his knees. He shut his eyes and let his mind relax. He had learned meditation from Hiashi and had found it a very relaxing technique.

He let his muscles relax and he blocked out any and all sounds around him, blocking out sound completely. His body moved rhythmically with the air around him and soon he was only aware of the presence everything around him. His heart slowed itself to match that of Shino's, the only sound he couldn't block out. Neji heard his own breathing and realized it was too loud. He quieted it and soon everything was quiet.

Now that all of his senses had been turned off, the only thing he had left to do was let his mind go blank. Neji quickly let everything he was thinking of flash past him, and he expelled it all from the caverns and crevices of his mind, so there was nothing. Neji, now was no longer Neji. He was just there. He was just another faceless person and his presence soon meshed with that of everything around him, most of all, Shino's presence. The Hyuuga's breathing, his heartbeat, everything that remained of him soon matched that of Shino. He became a part of Shino, metaphorically speaking, of course. And that was how Neji remained for what seemed like a millennium.

Finally, Neji opened his eyes and his spirit came flooding back to him. His breathing returned to normal and his heartbeat sped up. He didn't know how Shino survived with such a slow heart rate. He suddenly became of the Aburame staring at him.

"What?" he asked. Shino simply continued staring at the brunette prodigy.

"You looked so serene," he said. "Why did you stop?" Neji shrugged.

"I felt relaxed enough," he replied. Shino's eyes returned to his book.

"Well, you don't look relaxed to me," he said stoically. Neji looked at him questioningly.

"How do you mean?" he asked, raising a fine brow quizzically. Shino let out a slightly long breath.

"You're shoulders are tense and your eyes are alert and hard," he said. "And don't even get me started on your posture." Neji made a small, "hmph" noise.

"Well, I feel relaxed," he protested.

"And that's all that matters," Shino said. Neji pouted slightly as Shino resumed his reading. _Why is he so good at irritating me? _Neji thought to himself.


	12. Chapter 12

Night came and the clouds never left the sky as the moon lazily floated up to take the sun's place.

Neji had been dreading this moment ever since he had finished meditating.

The time now came when he had to share a bed with Shino.

Neji sighed and removed his beige shirt. Shino, he saw, was sitting on top of the covers, his jacket removed, his right leg crossed over the left, his back propped against the wall as he read. Only a few pages remained in his book and Shino was moving through them rapidly.

The nervous Hyuuga sat awkwardly on the edge of the bed and watched Shino as he finished his book.

"You know, I'm not going to stop you from sleeping," the bug nin said quietly. Neji went slightly pink.

"I know," he said. He tried to think of something else to say, but nothing came. So he slowly and tensely twisted his body around so he lay on his back, his pearl eyes staring up at the ceiling. And slowly, very slowly, he felt drowsiness take over him. The last thing he remembered before letting sleep claim him was seeing a soft light being turned off and hearing the shuffle of sheets next to him; and feeling the sheets being moved out from underneath him to be replaced over his tired body by pale, familiar arms…

Neji turned in his sleep, his arm unconsciously moving out to grab at something he didn't think was there…but actually draping over something quite real and alive. Neji's eyes flew open and his mouth opened slightly to let out a small, surprised breath as he saw what his arm had found.

Shino was there, next to him, sleeping on his back, mouth closed, chest rising and falling rhythmically, Neji's arm rising and falling with it. His sunglasses were off. Neji couldn't help but stare. It seemed as though Shino's entire personality had been revealed right then and there, all because he had taken off his sunglasses.

Neji finally realized what he was doing and tore his eyes away from Shino's face. He started to remove his arm from Shino's chest, but as he did, Shino's own hand moved up slowly and lightly grasped Neji's. Neji's eyes widened and he froze. He slowly turned his eyes to Shino and saw that the boy was still asleep. Neji carefully pulled his arm out of Shino's almost non-existent grip and Shino's hand positioned itself behind the bug nin's head.

Neji's breathing was heavy and he felt a drop of sweat run down his forehead. He quickly reached up and brushed it away, breathing out a sigh of relief as he did so. What the hell did Shino think he was _doing?_ Neji sighed once more, when he heard a voice.

"Are you alright?" Neji started and quickly turned, propping himself up on his elbows. Shino was on his own elbows, his head turned to look at Neji with curiosity and slight concern. His eyes were open and Neji could see their perfect shape and the dark circles that were his pupils and then his eyebrows, as they furrowed above the eye lids. Neji let out a silent breath of awe. Shino started to push off his right elbow, leaning towards Neji, his concern deepening.

"What's wrong?" he whispered. Neji backed slightly away, and became aware of the edge of the bed. His eyes quickly flashed over his shoulder and then back to Shino.

"N-nothing's wrong," he stuttered, his voice little more than a whisper, but his tone making it apparent that something was, indeed wrong. Shino turned away and reached over to turn on the light, but Neji said loudly, "Don't!" Shino stopped abruptly.

"Why not?" he asked.

"I-I don't want to wake anyone," Neji said, voicing the first thing he thought of. Shino turned back to Neji, his eyebrow raised.

"And your half shout won't wake anyone?" he inquired. Neji turned a deep shade of red, thankful for the dark that surrounded him and the other. He turned away from Shino and attempted to speak, but failed, and instead, heard a small squeak emanate from his mouth. The next thing he knew, the light was on and Shino was in front of him, examining him. Neji's breath caught in his throat for a second as he took in the sight of Shino without his jacket and glasses. The Aburame's eyes were a deep sapphire blue that sparkled in the poor light, making them easy to get lost in. His mouth had softened and his face expressed slight worry.

By now, Kimiko and Kyoko were awake and were looking over at Shino and Neji, alarmed. Kyoko's brows rose and she smiled, turning to her sister, who, despite herself, smiled as well.

"You're sweating," Shino whispered, his hand extending to the Hyuuga's face to wipe away a bead of sweat running down his cheek. Neji's face blanched and he froze as Shino's finger brushed his skin. Shino noticed.

"Nightmare?" he asked. Neji nodded shakily, hoping Shino would accept his answer and get the hell away from him. Unfortunately, Neji had no such luck. Shino sat down on the bed next to Neji and put a hand on the Hyuuga's shoulder. Neji tensed and Shino moved his hand over to Neji's other shoulder and proceeded to pull the nervous nin into him. Neji's head fell against Shino's shoulder and his eyes widened. _W-what the hell!? _He thought frantically. Without thinking, the long haired boy pushed himself away from Shino, who made no effort to pull him back in again. Instead, he turned and looked at the boy beside him, shrugged his shoulders and walked around to the other side of the bed. He turned to Kimiko and Kyoko, who both reddened at seeing him without his sunglasses, and bid them both goodnight and apologized for waking them. He turned off the light and slid into the bed, positioning himself on his back with his hands underneath his head, and his eyes closed. He was asleep within minutes. Neji was left sitting up on the other side of the bed, completely rattled. What the hell had just happened?

The Hyuuga heard the two sisters in the bed next to his lie down and go back to sleep, and he attempted to follow suit. However, he could find no sleep after that. Shino had just been too damn close! But he couldn't get his mind off of it! The confused prodigy turned onto his side so he was facing away from Shino and shut his eyes tightly. _God damn, Shino! What the hell are you doing to me!? _

**I'm not sure how long it will take me to write the next chapter. It might take a while, it might not. But I am REALLY into this fan fic so I'm going to be working on it as often as I can. Please comment!! I need comments, critizism too, if I'm going to conitnue this! I apologize to anyone if at any point the story got slow. -**


	13. Chapter 13

Neji's eyes fluttered open and his head turned slowly to the right, expecting to see Shino, but seeing nothing. Neji bolted up, remembering the previous night. He had…Shino had…He felt…What? Neji shook his head, trying to unscramble his thoughts, but only tangling them together more.

Neji looked to the bed beside him and saw that both Kimiko and Kyoko were still sleeping. Slowly, he swung his legs down to the floor and stood slowly. He put a hand to his forehead as he reached for his shirt. Instead, he found Shino's jacket. He picked it up and heard a small clatter as something inside one of the pockets fell to the floor. Neji looked down and saw Shino's shades resting peacefully on the floor. He bent over and picked them up. Shino was out without his jacket? Without his sunglasses?

Neji was about to put them back when the door to the room opened quietly and Shino walked in. Neji froze, the hand holding the glasses still extended, his hand holding the jacket down by his side, Shino's jacket flopping lazily toward the floor.

Shino looked at Neji and then approached him. Neji tried not to tense as Shino reached out to him. His eyes squinted as he tried to keep them open and saw Shino's hands relieve him of the glasses and jacket.

"Did you sleep well?" the bug nin asked quietly. Neji nodded. "No more nightmares?" Neji shook his head, going slightly red. Shino nodded.

"Good," he said. He started to put his jacket and glasses on when he noticed the Hyuuga looking at him.

"Are you really that surprised that nothing's covering my eyes?" he asked. Neji started and turned away.

"No," he protested. "It's just slightly unusual, that's all." He turned and quickly grabbed his shirt and bolted from the room. Shino watched him with a raised brow. He sighed and shook his head. _There he goes again. _

Lee was out training in the area behind the inn, when a very flustered Neji walked past him. He had been breathing rather heavily and his face had the faintest hint of red to it.

Lee raised a thick eyebrow and watched as the Hyuuga disappeared somewhere. _Now what could be bothering my archrival so? _Lee thought to himself, bringing a hand up to his chin.

"Hmmmmmmmmmm……" he said as he thought.

"Lee?" The voice startled him and he whipped around to face the intruder.

"Kiku!" he said, upon seeing who it was. "What are doing out here so early?" Kiku shrugged.

"I always wake up early," she said. "It doesn't feel right if I don't." She smiled and Lee blushed, for once, at a loss for words. Kiku chuckled slightly.

"I never got to thank you for carrying me all the way from Konoha," she said, bowing. "So, thank you." Lee's blush deepened.

"It was nothing," he said. Without thinking he said, "You are surprisingly light." Suddenly, realizing what he had said, Lee clapped a hand to his mouth and shouted, "Gomenasai!" Kiku's smile grew and she raised a soft elegant brow.

"Don't apologize," she said. "It was a simple remark, nothing more. It's certainly nothing that would offend me." Lee quickly put his hand by his side and bowed. Kiku walked over to him.

"How well do you know Yoshikawa Sai?" she asked curiously. Lee looked at her, not bothering to hide his curiosity.

"I know her very well," he said proudly. "May I ask why you want to know this?" Kiku looked at him.

"I wondered if you could tell me about her," she said. Lee raised his brows and turned to face forward, thinking.

"Well, I think it's obvious that she's an excellent shinobi," he said, pondering the words he was saying. "She also has a very understated sense of humor! And she is very understanding and compassionate and…YOUTHFUL!" Kiku laughed openly after he said this and Lee, confused, started to laugh with her.

"Lee, you're a very fascinating person!" Kiku remarked and Lee smiled, giving her the nice-guy pose.

"I will take that as a compliment!" he declared. "Thank you, Kiku!"

He stood and looked at her, offering her his hand. She accepted and let him pull her up.

"Well, I must get back to training!" he said. "Is there anything else you need of me?" Kiku shook her head.

"No," she said. "I'll let you resume your practicing." She bowed and turned to leave, but hesitated.

"Lee?" Lee turned and looked at her.

"Yes?" he replied. Kiku looked slightly red.

"Could I, perhaps speak to you again?" she asked timidly. Lee blinked, surprised, but quickly recovered his usual attitude and smiled.

"Of course you could!" he exclaimed. "It would be a privilege for me to speak with you again!" Kiku smiled, bowed and left Lee to his rigorous training methods.

Kimiko sat up in her bed and reached her arms high above her head in a long and satisfying stretch. She looked beside her and saw Kyoko stirring. She smiled and gently shook her sister awake. Kyoko lifted her eyelids with what seemed like a great amount of effort. She turned and smiled at the sister above her.

"Good morning," she whispered sleepily.

"Morning," Kimiko replied. "You slept well, yes?" Kyoko nodded and sat up, stretching. She stopped, remembering the events that had taken place the previous night. She smirked slightly and turned to Kimiko, who also seemed to be recalling the rather awkward interaction between Shino and Neji. She reacted in a much more negative fashion than her sister, however. Her face fell and her shoulders slouched a little in disappointment. Kyoko noticed and put her arms around her sister in a warm and loving embrace. Kimiko leaned into her sister's arms and laid her head on her shoulder, thinking deeply. What had started out as a simple attraction for her had grown into something much more, she was sure of it. She knew she had special feelings for the beautiful Hyuuga heir, and she was disappointed, to say the least, by all the unconscious signals he was sending to her, telling her that he was not mutually interested.

"I had just hoped he might have given me a chance," Kimiko whispered to her sister. Kyoko's soft lips turned upward in a smile against Kimiko's hair.

"Come, Kimiko," she said. "It was just infatuation. Please, do not make yourself uneasy about this." Kimiko sighed and pulled away from her sibling to look at her solemnly.

"I cannot help my feelings," she said. Kyoko returned her look of serious thoughtfulness.

"But you cannot recognize feelings as serious as love at such an early and inexperienced age," Kyoko countered. "Don't be so quick to delude yourself into believing that something as simple as infatuation or a crush is the same kind of undying love that mother and father feel for each other." Kimiko turned her head away angrily, and her hair twirled around her, hiding her face.

"Don't be so quick to assume that I'm deluded," she said coldly. "I can recognize my own feelings." Kyoko looked nervous but pressed on.

"I know you, Kimiko," she said. "You're a hopeless romantic and you've always been quick to label something as love when at best it could be classified as a small attraction."

Kimiko was silent. She knew that what Kyoko was saying was true; knew that she had always craved real love, but she also knew that the naivety that had ruled her once was gone now, to be replaced by maturity and a strong sense of recognition of her feelings. She knew what she felt and Kyoko could not change that. She rose from the bed and swiftly and silently dressed herself, while Kyoko watched with blank eyes. Kimiko finished dressing and turned to her sister.

"I'm sorry, sister," Kimiko said. "But I will not deny myself. I am too old for that." With that, she turned and left, the slight breeze she stirred ruffling Kyoko's hair slightly. Kyoko shook her head.

"But you are in denial, Kimiko," she said. "Do not argue for argument's sake alone."

Kimiko walked through the village of Kumogakure, thinking only of what her sister had said to her that morning. _I do care for him! _She persistently told herself. _I do have feelings for him! _She continued walking and a sudden thought struck her. _I'll find Kiku! She will surely understand me. _She sped up, creating quite a strenuous pace and hurried to wherever it was that she deemed the correct direction.

She didn't know where she was going, but somehow, she managed to find Kiku. It wasn't too far from the inn and it was a rather serene setting. A small natural garden of light pink and red flowers surrounded her older sister and only a few small houses were near them.

Kiku looked up as Kimiko approached her. She stood and smiled.

"What do you do here, Kimiko?" she asked. Kimiko walked to her sister and placed her hands on her shoulders.

"Kyoko doesn't believe me," she said. Kiku cocked her head in a quizzical manner.

"What won't she believe?" the elder of the two inquired. Kimiko looked up at her and held her gaze for a moment before answering.

"She won't believe that I love Hyuuga Neji!" she shouted. Her voice echoed throughout the small clearing and Kiku stared into her sister's eyes, exploring them and searching for something, any sign of emotion that proved this declaration to be true or false. Finally, she laughed.

"Well, I'd say that's because you don't!" she said. Kimiko's mouth fell open. Why? She had expected Kiku to believe her. She tried to pull away, but Kiku held fast.

"Do not deny truth merely because you wish to defy us, your elders," she said calmly. Kimiko froze. Her eyes began to moisten and she felt her face form an expression of surprise. Kiku watched her sister interestedly.

"You know very well, Kimiko, that you can keep nothing from me," she laughed. "Do not try to keep such an impacting emotion, or lack thereof, from your older sister!" Kimiko tried to protest.

"But, I-I do feel for him!" she insisted, though rather weakly when compared to what she had said to Kyoko previously. Kiku laughed wholeheartedly and pulled the confused girl into her.

"Fine, think what you want," she said. "But at least stop arguing just to oppose what we, Kyoko or I say." Kimiko's eyes leaked small delicate tears that slid down her perfect cheeks and onto her sister's yukata. Her arms wrapped themselves tightly around Kiku's delicate and slender frame and she pulled more into the safety of her sister's embrace.

A breeze surrounded them and the flowers bended and swayed under its gentle power. The loose folds of their yukata blew and rippled, brushing with the petals of the soft serene flowers. Kimiko's wavy locks mingled with Kiku's straight stringy ones and her soft pale skin contrasted Kiku's slightly tanned smooth skin.

They remained like that; two sisters, embracing lovingly; their bond increasing.

Leaves mixed in a blur of color, all different shades. The rushing of the wind whistled as he moved, jumping from tree to tree, through the forest that led to his destination. He would succeed. He had to. He was on thin ice already. One more failure and he was pretty much dead.

_Almost there…_ He thought. He was so close and now wasn't the time to falter. He slowed, only a scant bit, and began to build up his chakra. If he was going to take down those damned shinobi, he would need as much chakra as he could muster.

His feet silently pushed himself forward, barely moving anything, leaving the perfect nature virtually untouched, unscathed by his death-filled hands. His clothes clung to him and seemed to understand that silence was necessary, and did not make a noise, even in the wind he was creating. His eyes narrowed and his senses moved ahead of him, seeking out enemies, alerting him of approaching shinobi. His ears opened themselves a thousand times wider than that of normal humans, and he heard everything. His heartbeat adjusted itself to match that of everything around him. His body became one with the body of the nature that surrounded him and his soul soon became encased by that very nature. He was nearly ready. He was nearly there.

Kiku and Kimiko had been walking for a while now, and Kimiko had just become aware of the moving sun.

"Shall we go back now?" she asked, turning to her sister. "I think they would be worried about us." Kiku faced her sister and nodded.

"That may be true," she said, her brow etching slightly. "Let's go back, then." Kimiko nodded and they both turned to walk out of the forest they had entered.

A small light through arms of trees with fingers of leaves alerted the shinobi to the nearing end of the forest. He smirked. _Almost there! _

Kimiko was not sure what exactly had happened. A rustle in the trees and a scoff was all she heard before Kiku was pushing her into the bushes.

She squeaked and hit the ground and Kiku was immediately next to her, signaling for her to be quiet. Kimiko complied, her heart beating rapidly, her eyes swiveling around desperately, trying to find the source of her sister's sudden frightened actions.

The forest seemed to be as it should. Nothing burning or being physically harmed. However, the trees had silenced any breeze and were now frozen, the leaves watching warily for some unknown danger. The shrubs and bushes sat uncharacteristically still and seemed to shed an air of foreboding. The birds and insects were silent and in hiding from some mysterious creature that had power enough to subdue them to this…eerie silence. Kimiko's breath halted as she, too, attempted to hide herself from this strange force. Her eyes moved slowly to Kiku and she saw her sister's face was sharp and alert, her eyes staring straight forward, a strange gleam in them, her shoulders tensed and ready, her body tingling with anticipation and anxiety.

Kimiko opened her mouth to ask what was going on, and Kiku's hand was covering it, her fingers squeezing on the soft skin, her palm salty with sweat on Kimiko's tongue and her nails digging into her cheek. Kimiko made a small noise and Kiku's eyes snapped over to her, as though spotting her for the first time, and widened.

Suddenly, Kimiko was shoved into the clearing as Kiku began running in the other direction. Kimiko gasped and bolted after her sister.

"Kiku!" she called. Kiku didn't answer. Kimiko's heart was threatening to burst from her chest. Kimiko capped a hand to her breast in an attempt to silence the rapid thud of her heart. She called out for Kiku once again, and once again there was silence.

Kimiko followed the direction her sister had run and found her way to another clearing, but, instead of finding Kiku, was met by another. A ninja. An Igarashi. Kimiko gasped and the shinobi snickered, reaching out for her and grabbing her arm.

"Kiku!" Kimiko screamed, before the shinobi clapped his hand to her mouth. She yelled and screamed and strained against her captor, but it was in vain.

The young girl felt a soft pinch on the side of her neck and her vision blurred, her eyelids became heavy and her world darkened.

She awoke what seemed like a few moments later, and heard a scream.

"Kimiko!" _That voice! _

"Kiku!" Kimiko was wide awake now. Her body ached form having been put in the awkward position of being slung over the shinobi's shoulder. She lifted her head to see Kiku running towards her, shouting angrily and throwing rocks at the shinobi who was, now rapidly fleeing.

Kimiko started flailing and reached out her hand to latch around something and found a tree branch. She closed her fingers down over it and pulled. The shinobi started and stumbled. Kimiko reached out her other hand and pulled harder. She could feel the ninja's grip loosening. She could feel her body slipping free.

With one loud grunt and a great pull Kimiko had freed herself from the shinobi's clutches. The ninja fell forward but recovered himself. He turned and found Kiku standing protectively in front of her sister, a small knife in her hand. The shinobi scoffed.

"What do you think you can do with that?" he jeered. His hand flashed to his thigh and came reappeared in front of him holding a small gray knife; a kunai knife, according to Kurenai. Kiku's eyes narrowed. She bent her knees, readying herself. The ninja smirked and sped at her, with a speed not naturally reached by normal humans. Kiku watched him and saw him curving around her to try and reach Kimiko. The elder girl, with a look of sudden concentration, stepped once to the side and blindly struck outward. Her blade cut trough air and she felt a searing pain begin in her lower abdomen and then proceed to shoot throughout her body. She heard a distant scream that sounded like someone she knew…

The injured girl blinked and she stepped away and struck out again, and, once again, her knife hit nothing but the emptiness around her. She felt the pain again, this time in her chest and she staggered. She coughed and felt a warm liquid come from her mouth. She heard a snigger and a cry, too distant for her to tell which was which.

She heard something this time. She heard laughing getting louder and louder, very gradually, and she turned to her right, towards the laughter. She thrust her dagger out once more, this time going upward, and she felt it hit something. She gritted her teeth and pushed the blade further into whatever it was. She felt her hand being dragged downwards as the thing that her knife was embedded in fell to the ground. She fell with it. She tried to remove the dagger, but had not the strength. She collapsed on the dead thing and felt a warm sticky liquid begin to cover her body. She felt herself being lifted up off the ground and heard a name being called…her name…she recognized the voice…but her mind couldn't…remember it…

Kiku's eyes fluttered closed and she faded into stillness…

"Kiku! Kiku!!" Kimiko's cries pierced the forest, causing birds to take flight and insects to flee. Kimiko's eyes were wide as she tried desperately to wake her sister. The blood teeming around her seemed to never stop flowing. Kimiko's hands pressed themselves desperately against the wounds as though to stem the flow. But it to no avail. Kimiko knew her sister was dead. Knew it, but didn't accept it.

Tears fell from her eyes as freely as the blood flowed from her once living sister, and Kimiko grasped her hand.

And that's how they remained; two sisters, in a forest wrought with death and pain; their bond broken.

Kurenai was currently reassuring a very worried Kiu and Gai was attempting to comfort a nervous Yoshi. Kyoko was standing by the edge of the inn, watching and waiting. She knew Kimiko had run off because of what she had said to her. Maybe her feelings for the shinobi were real?

Kyoko sighed and brushed the thought away. As long as her sisters came back unharmed she didn't care who felt what.

Suddenly a shout came from Lee and he pointed to the horizon. Kyoko squinted against the sun and saw Kimiko and Kiku coming towards them. Kyoko let out a cry of joy and ran to her dear sisters.

The Konoha shinobi were shocked and overcome by panic when Kyoko's piercing cry of anguish rang through the air. Lee watched, startled as the girl fell to her knees and wept; watched the display of complete and utter grief and was moved to tears himself.

Kyoko sat on her knees, no strength to do anything else as her sister's lifeless eyes stared at her. Kimiko, holding Kiku, watched Kyoko with a blank look and moved past her to go to her parents.

By then Kiu and Yoshi were rushing towards Kyoko to see what was wrong, but stopped and froze when they saw what, or rather, who Kimiko was holding. Kiu cried out and fell to her knees, forgetting to bury her head in her husband's chest, forgetting she even had a husband, and her face fell to her hands and she too, wept openly. Yoshi simply froze and forgot he had a body that could do anything save stand there, shaking. The wet tears flowed freely from his eyes as he silently sobbed. The parents' anguish were immense and endless, as they both remembered the day Kiku had been born. Their hearts had been plunged into ecstasy, their joy indescribable. Now, their hearts were plunged into anguish, their grief indescribable.

The Konoha shinobi all began to mourn in tune with the family, unable to prevent the horrible emotion that overcame them as they witnessed the breaking of the family's hearts.

Naruto watched Kyoko sob far away from them, now seeing nothing and no one, and his eyes began to water as well. However, he did not try to clear them, did not try to prevent them. He let them come, and they came harder and faster as he walked to Kyoko. He took the trembling girl in his arms and held her, but the embrace was empty, and she did not feel comforted, she only felt hollow and broken as she bawled into him.

Neji had fallen to his knees as he watched and tears began to fall delicately from his own lavender eyes, streaking his pale face with small trails that came from them. How had that happened? Neji's heart jerked as he watched Naruto try in vain to comfort the young Kyoko, watched as Kurenai and Gai lost the will to comfort and simply hung their heads, trying to maintain the ways of the shinobi; trying to remember that tears could not be shed, emotion could not be shown. But, in the end, giving in to their all too human ways and began to weep with the rest.

Tenten too, was affected. She, too was on her knees and was being held by Lee, who looked blank and dead. Tenten's eyes were shut tight, the wet drops still managing to find their way out and down her cheeks. Lee simply stared ahead, his mind registering nothing his eyes fell upon, his eyes taking in nothing they glanced over. He just kneeled, holding Tenten in his arms, but not realizing it.

Shino, during all the confusion, had removed his sunglasses and put them in his pocket, allowing his own tears to fall from his eyes. He did not move while he cried, did not make a sound, and it didn't even look as though he was crying. Only Neji knew, as Shino kneeled down and held him tenderly, as he placed his chin on the prodigy's head, as the Hyuuga felt the slightest bit of moisture on through his hair, that Shino was crying.

Kimiko would not let anyone take the corpse from her. She would be the one to bury her sister. She would be the one to send her to the calm tranquil utopia of the afterlife.

She separated herself from the rest of the group and walked a dead defeated manner to the small flower field that she and her sister had spoken in. She kneeled down and absentmindedly began to dig, dropping the soil in a small pile next to her, Kiku's body resting to her left, the corpse's yukata stained with blood and not having been changed to suit the dead wearer.

Kimiko worked silently, no one approaching her, everyone knowing, understanding that this was Kimiko's task. That this was and could be done only by Kimiko, and so they waited. Waited for the girl who had died to bury the girl who was dead.

**Please review! I want to know how my death-scenes are. This one just didn't send the right vibes to me, so I may change it...depending on what people think I should do.**


	14. Chapter 14

The long term effects were, of course, worse than the short term ones. After the sudden shock and trauma caused by Kiku's death came the realization that she was never coming back and was followed by a long state of depression. So it was for the Nagasani family, they soon became ruled by the despair that their broken hearts allowed in.

Despite the shinobis' frantic efforts to cheer the family even a little, nothing could bring them out of their reverie of sadness. And that failure, in turn, resulted in the Konoha ninjas slowly succumbing to the sadness. Even Lee had lost his youthful spark, his passionate drive. And Gai never attempted to rekindle it.

The day immediately following Kiku's murder was the worst. Neji had woken up early, as he always did, and he saw Shino, sitting there, on Kimiko and Kyoko's bed, a soft hand on the elder of the two, who was crying and shuddering involuntarily. Neji's eyes closed and he let out a deep breath of empathy. At that Shino had looked up, his sunglasses covering his pale face, and held a hand out to Neji. Neji had blinked, stood, walked over and took it, feeling the bug nin's fingers squeeze his for comfort or reassurance, neither of which could be found or provided.

Naruto had woken in the other room and looked over to the half empty bed that had once been Kiku's sleeping place, but now just held Kurenai. He had felt his eyes sting as tears threatened, but had shaken them away. He had turned, expecting to see his temporary bedmate, but Lee had been absent from his usual spot next to Naruto. Naruto had sighed. Lee had just been starting to get to know Kiku, as he had expressed rather joyfully the day previous this one, and had felt it most acutely when she died.

Tenten had only felt what her teammates felt, having not had a personal encounter with Kiku herself, but having known what her friends thought of her. She had begun to develop an opinion about Kiku, a rather good one as well, and was distraught when the girl she only barely knew had died and taken with her the privilege of a possible friendship.

Two days after Kiku's death, Kurenai seemed to remember that they were on a mission that needed to be completed. She had managed to admirably rally her own spirits and had almost successfully rallied the spirits of others, however half hearted they were, when Sai made her reappearance.

The brunette nin had come to town that day that Kurenai had hoped to leave, and brought Uchiha Sasuke with her. The raven haired shinobi had finished his rather simple mission with Asuma's team, Hinata and Kiba rather quickly and had been the only one Sai could manage to secure for her trip back to the Land of Lightning.

He strutted into the village and looked around with his fixed scowl and his cynical air was more noticeable than ever. He sighed.

"Well, now that we're here," he said in his usual monotone. "Do you know where everyone is?" Sai smirked and shook her head.

"Not a clue," she said glancing in his direction. Sasuke glared at her.

"Well, get a clue," he huffed. "I am not going to spend all week trying to find that idiot." Sai snickered, knowing instantly who the Uchiha was talking about. She turned to him, a crooked smile on her face.

"I know," she said. "Don't worry, I'll help you find your crush." Sasuke's head snapped in her direction and he opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it and then closed it again. Sai laughed.

Kimiko woke this day to the quiet voice of her sister. She turned and fixed the girl with a broken stare, which Kyoko returned. She was already in her traveling clothes, and now held Kimiko's out to her.

"It's time to go," she said, her voice cracked and hollow. "Kurenai is going to have us help her search for the…" She stopped, seeing her sister's face. "Them." Kimiko turned away from her sister to let her legs fall to the floor and she stood slowly, stiffly. Like the dead.

"I don't want anything more to do with them." The sudden firmness of Kimiko's voice seemed to startle her sister back to life. For a moment, a small flicker of life flashed through Kyoko's eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it had come. Kyoko's eyes returned to their dead state and she stared at the younger girl before her.

"We have no choice," she said calmly. "We must help the Konoha shinobi rid us of them, or they could be killed as well." Kimiko's fists clenched painfully.

"I don't care," she muttered coldly. "They didn't do anything to help Kiku." Kyoko blinked, her hand holding Kimiko's clothes dropping slightly.

"Yes, they did," she countered. "They kept her safe this long. They protected her; and us, her family up to now. That's something, isn't it?" Kimiko was silent for a moment before she turned to her sister angrily.

"They weren't there when Kiku died for me!" she shouted. "They weren't there to save her! They just weren't there!!" Kyoko's expressionless face turned cold and hard.

"Neither were you," she said softly. Kimiko flinched as though Kyoko had hit her. "Here, dress yourself and be ready to leave." Kyoko threw the clothes on the bed, turned and left, leaving Kimiko staring perplexedly after her, knowing that she was speaking about more than just Kiku.

"Kurenai-Sensei!" Tenten approached Kurenai and bowed slightly.

"I'm all ready and I believe Shino and Neji are as well," she said. "Lee is…" She broke off and Kurenai nodded. She knew that Lee was still at the grave sight of the dead girl, and that he had been the first one to be prepared. "Naruto is just tidying up the room." Kurenai nodded. She turned to Gai, standing next to her.

"Gai, do you know if Kimiko and Kyoko are ready to leave?" she asked. Gai shook his head.

"But I will make it my life's mission to find out!" he promised.

Kurenai rolled her eyes but smiled. The old Gai was back.

Gai found Kyoko walking slowly around the garden and approached her confidently, to say the least.

"Young Kyoko!" he boomed, startling her. "I come on behalf of my friend and companion, Yuuhi Kurenai, who would like to know if you are ready to depart!" Kyoko looked at him in an empty way and nodded.

"I cannot speak for my sister, though," she said, a slight edge in her voice. "She suffers from much sorrow and grief at the loss of her dear sister." Gai winced slightly as Kyoko spat these angry words.

"Young Nagasani," he said, quieting down slightly. "You sound troubled. Kiku was also your sister as well. Why aren't you comforting Kimiko?" Kyoko scoffed.

"She wants no comfort from me," she said. "And she wishes not to keep intact any bonds with you. She is now lost to the world of useless anguish and needless despair." Her face contorted itself, falling to the anger and hurt Kyoko felt at having been cast aside by her family for her dead sister. Gai's face showed surprise and concern. He could understand Kyoko's feelings. He knew from Lee and Naruto what it was like to be left out. He had had his own experiences with it as well. And he knew it hurt.

Gai walked over to her and placed a hand softly on her shoulder, causing her to flinch.

"Don't shy away from your sister only because she shies away from you," he said wisely. "She needs you now. She needs you to stay alive for her. Don't be foolish enough to create a barrier that keeps her and all others from you and your heart. Isolation only leads to more death." Kyoko's breathing came out surprised and slightly heavy. She turned to Gai and looked into his beaming face with her tear filled eyes.

Gai had his moments too.

Naruto walked out of the inn and heard a familiar voice. Or set of voices rather.

"Hey Naruto!" This was followed by a heavy sigh coming from a different person. Naruto turned and saw Yoshikawa Sai coming towards him, a grin on her face, followed by Uchiha Sasuke, the last of the Uchiha clan and definitely Konoha's most irritating shinobi, according to Naruto.

"What are you doing here, Sasuke?" Naruto demanded, stretching out Sasuke's name to sound as insolent as possible. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Sai dragged me here," he sighed. "She said she needed my help on some stupid mission." Naruto folded his arms.

"Well, as much as I hate to say it, we do kinda need the extra help," he mumbled. "Even if it is from you." Sasuke glowered at Naruto and then turned to Sai.

"So what the hell is the objective, here?" he asked pointedly. "You mentioned something about a clan war and then mumbled something about some Nagasani family and then pulled me away to the Land of Lightning. What is going on?" Sai turned to Naruto.

"Why don't you have him talk to Gai or Kurenai-Sensei?" she asked. "I need to be filled in too. What exactly happened while I was gone?" Naruto's face fell. He knew that Sai was only asking because it was routine. She couldn't have known what had happened to Kiku and definitely wouldn't have steeled herself for it.

Naruto reached out and took her arm and pulled her away from Sasuke, who rolled his eyes and went to search out Kurenai or Gai. Preferably Kurenai. He led her to a small area behind the inn.

"A lot's happened since you left," he said quietly. He didn't bother to mention that it might not have happened if she hadn't left. She didn't need that kind of guilt.

Sai heard the sudden grave tone in Naruto's voice and became instantly curious.

"What?" she asked. "What happened?" She looked at Naruto, almost right through him, and waited for an answer. Naruto's eyes let their gaze fall to the ground as the blonde shinobi took a breath, preparing himself for what he was going to say. Sai looked at him silently. She wasn't going to push it out of him. She knew he would say it eventually.

"It's…" Naruto stopped and took a deep breath, jumping slightly when Sai placed her hand on his shoulder. He looked gratefully at her and continued. "It's…Kiku." Sai's stomach overturned. She had a very strong hunch, but she hoped it wasn't right.

"She died," Naruto said bluntly in a forced voice. Sai's eyes stopped quivering. Her body froze and her hand gripped Naruto's shoulder deathly hard, her knuckles a pasty white. A single bead of sweat dripped from her forehead and fell to her arm. She now looked directly through Naruto at something behind him. She seemed to have lost the ability to speak.

"Sai?" Naruto whispered. Sai jerked and her eyes soon came to life again, but a very sorrowful life. They weren't on the verge of tears, but they failed to conceal the grief she felt.

Suddenly, Sai's head fell forward, her eyes narrowed and her hand loosened on Naruto's shoulder. The Uzumaki became instantly worried for his friend and teammate. Slowly but surely he lifted his arms around her and stepped to her, in a warming embrace that she seemed to need. Sai's hands found their way to Naruto's back where they rested lightly and remained.

Even a shinobi; especially a shinobi; needs comfort every now and again.

* * *

**Okay. Sorry it took so long, but finals are here and I am studying my ASS off!! Seriously! School is some majorly hard shit! **

**Anyway, please review and tell me what could be better and what you liked. Thx!**


	15. Chapter 15

The blind woman approached Neji, carefully feeling her way towards him.

"Which one of you is it?" she asked. Neji turned around and smiled at the kind eyes that could not see but that still showed sympathy and concern. The Hyuuga leaned down and said softly, "Hyuuga Neji." The woman felt his face and her face brightened and then fell again.

"And how are you, today, my dear?" she asked. Neji's eyes hardened. That subject was still tender; sensitive. He still had trouble speaking of it.

"It's hard to say," he answered truthfully, trying to keep his voice from wavering. The woman smiled and placed a hand on the Hyuuga's cheek.

"Don't despair, dear," she said sweetly. "You still have that Aburame Shino to comfort you." Neji twitched nervously and was thankful that the woman was unable to see his face.

He remembered going to her after the night Shino had broken almost all of the touch barriers. He remembered explaining to her how weird it felt, and he remembered asking her if she had ever experienced anything similar. He remembered regarding her like a mother.

The gray haired lady removed her hand from Neji's face, a small mischievous gleam to her eye.

"I may not be able to see your blush," she said. "But I can feel its heat beneath my fingers. Do not deny your feelings for him. It's not the way of the Hyuuga clan to deny." She winked at him and returned to her work, leaving Neji more confused than ever.

Were his feelings really that obvious? Could everybody see that he felt differently around Shino? Neji blinked and thought these questions over. _No! _He thought vehemently. _The question I should be asking is, "Do I have feelings for Aburame Shino?" _Neji blinked again and shook his head. _Nooo! Why is that even a question!? _He clutched at his hair, his pale thin fingers squeezing the oily strands between them, but not pulling. Where the hell were all of these weird feelings coming from? Why the hell were they so sudden? And why did they only apply to Shino? Thousands of questions filled Neji's head, none of which he was able to answer. Only one thing was apparent in his mind, as much as he did detest it; he did have feelings for Shino. And it was driving him crazy.

"Neji." Neji whipped around and saw, to his immense relief, Sai approaching him. She looked tired and weary and graver than the dead. Neji's shoulders slumped slightly. Had someone told her? Naruto might have. He wasn't the kind of person to keep something like that from his teammate.

"So you know?" he inquired carefully. Sai nodded.

"Naruto told me," she said. "I can't believe it." Her cold gaze fell to the floor. Neji's gaze followed.

"I couldn't either when I saw it," he said gently. Sai looked up at him and smiled slightly.

"I can only imagine how the others took it," she said. Neji nodded.

"Lee seems to be taking it the hardest, besides her family, of course. He was just getting to know her before she died." Sai let out a deep breath and then her smile increased a scant bit.

"And what about you and Shino?" she asked. "Are you two still as close as when I left, or are you closer?" Neji's face went instantly red.

"W-what are you talking about!?" he spluttered, embarrassed. Sai snickered.

"I spoke to the inn keeper, if that's who she is, and she somehow got on the subject of you and Shino sleeping in the same bed, and how, on a certain night a few nights past, you came to her and told her about a certain event that got you pretty shaken up and how you two had a nice long discussion about feelings," she stated as though it had been rehearsed. "Now how much of that is true?" Neji's mouth was open pretty wide, and he couldn't seem to close it for a moment. He finally shook himself from his trance and responded to Sai's question with one of his own.

"How long have you wanted to say that?" he asked incredulously. Sai shrugged.

"Ever since I spoke with that woman," she replied. "It was seriously driving me crazy. I had to go to Kurenai first, then I had to find Gai, and then I had to catch up with everyone and then I had to check on the family, and I didn't really have time to ask you about it. Obviously, I finished all that already and now I have quite a bit of time." She put her hands on her hips and smirked at the blushing Hyuuga. "So how much of that is true?"

Neji felt his face begin to form a scowl. Damn it! Why was he so easy to read? Oh well. There really was no point in lying to Sai.

"All of it," he mumbled. Sai looked smug.

"I knew it!" she declared, sounding for a moment like Gai. "You do like Shino." Neji rolled his eyes.

"So?" he snapped. Sai looked at him with raised brow.

"So, we have to see if he likes you back," she said simply. Neji's eyes widened.

"No!" he hissed. "Don't interfere! I have no intention of telling anybody about this!" Sai's eyes swiveled over to him.

"Well, if you don't at least tell him, those feelings will accumulate more and more until you end up doing something stupid," she said wisely. "And, that, Neji, is why closure was invented."

Neji only looked at her.

Shino ran as fast as he could. _Damn it!! _He had to find them! Now! What would happen if he was even a second too slow!?

Neji was staring incredulously at Sai when he felt a hand grab his and felt himself being pulled away. He scowled as he saw Sai smirking at his obvious blush and continued to glower at her as she followed behind him.

He pulled his hand free of his mystery captor and turned to see the back of Shino's head in front of him. His blush deepened. _Damn it! Why'd it have to be Aburame!? _He thought angrily to himself, cursing irony. Still, he sped up so that he was next to Shino, who was running surprisingly fast, and let his eyes rest on him.

"What's going on?" he asked slightly urgently. Shino answered in a would-be- calm voice.

"It's Kimiko," he replied. "It seems she's run off somewhere. We can't find her." Neji's eyes widened. Next to him, he heard Sai's sharp intake of breath.

"When did she disappear?" the Yoshikawa asked. Shino turned his head slightly.

"She was gone when I went to get her," he said. "That was about ten minutes ago. According to Kyoko, the two had some sort of fight and that's why she ran off." Sai looked forward and increased her pace, and Shino and Neji followed suit.

By now, Neji was very worried. Kimiko had taken the death of her sister to heart, and Kyoko couldn't have said anything good if it resulted in her running away. He needed to hear Kyoko's account on what happened.

Kyoko's hands were clasped to her chest, her brow furrowed with concern and fright, her face shining in sweat and her breath coming out in pants.

"Kimiko!!" she screamed into the forest once again. Once again there was no answer. Kimiko was no where in sight, but everywhere Kyoko looked, she could see her younger sister's face smiling at her in the leaves of the trees or scowling at her in the blooms of the rose bushes.

She was scared. She didn't want to lose Kimiko as well, and if she did, she knew it would be her fault. She knew that Kimiko had left because of her, and she knew what she would do if Kimiko died because of her.

Neji, Shino and Sai tore through the forest, turning sharply when Shino instructed so. According to him, the shinobi were fanned out looking for the girl. Yoshi and Kiu refused to stay at the inn and let their daughter fall to the hands of any evil that might find her were she to stray too far.

They were the first ones Shino, Neji and Sai found. They were searching with Gai and their faces showed fear and determination. Sai had quickly decided to stay with them and to help Gai look for Kimiko and Neji and Shino proceeded forward, looking both for Kimiko and for signs of any of the others.

Neji suddenly stopped.

"Where's Kyoko?" he asked urgently. Shino looked at him.

"She went with Naruto, I believe," he replied. Neji's eyes widened.

"Oh no," he whispered. Shino watched in alarm as Neji's Byakugan was activated and the brunette boy ran off into the woods, quickly jumping from tree to tree, trying desperately to reach his destination as quickly as possible. Shino followed, confused and nervous.

"Kyoko!" Naruto shouted. The ebon haired girl had disappeared in the moment he had looked away. And now he was sensing an unfamiliar chakra presence. He ran into the trees, trying to find her, and saw a red flash to his right. He snapped around and saw Kyoko running towards something he couldn't see. He followed, calling for her to stop. She didn't listen. He quickened his steps. Soon he was running. He caught up with her and grabbed her arm.

"Where are you going!?" he shouted. Kyoko turned to glare at him angrily, her eyes wide and insane, her face contorted with rage.

"I'm trying to find my sister, Baka!!" she shouted. "It's not like you would understand how I feel!!" Naruto's teeth clenched and his hand tightened around her wrist, causing her to cry out.

"Ouch! You're hurting me!" she cried, trying to pull away from him, but to no avail. Naruto held fast.

"Don't tell me what I do and don't understand!" Naruto retaliated angrily. Kyoko glared at him furiously, and he returned her evil piercing gaze. Finally she turned away, unable to hold the blonde's hard gaze, and trying to hide the tears. Naruto's grip on her loosened and he took a step closer to her. Choosing correctly to remain silent, the Uzumaki just stood behind her, letting the girl release the emotion she had held inside of her for so long.

Neji leaped through the trees, growing swifter and quicker with each light bound. He was unaware of Shino following behind him. He was only aware of the growing feeling of foreboding that now took hold of him; as well as the sudden burst of unfamiliar chakra he sensed fleeing towards a weaker familiar energy the Hyuuga understood to belong to Naruto. _Oh, gods, please don't let me be too late!!_ Neji prayed to himself.

He gasped, realizing that the large and tumultuous chakra belonged to more than one person. Shinobi, most likely, of the Igarashi clan, come to kill the Nagasani family. Neji moved faster, now going as fast as he possibly could; trying to get to Naruto before the enemy did. Shino, now abandoning his puzzled demeanor for one of alertness and intense worry, sped up so he was beside the prodigy. Words were not needed. The Aburame could sense Neji's fear and worry, and knew what it was directed towards. _This is not good…_

A sound in the trees and a jolt of the senses was all Naruto needed. He grabbed Kyoko around the middle and fled. He didn't need to turn to know that they were being pursued. It was inevitable. It was obvious. They were alone in the forest, and Naruto had no idea where their companions were. Shit. And what was more, the shinobi eventually caught up to them. Naruto was soon surrounded by five of them. He stood with his arms still protectively around Kyoko, now visibly shaking, and with tears in her eyes. It didn't help that she didn't know the first thing about protecting herself.

"Damn!" Naruto swore under his breath. Quickly, he activated his chakra and, letting go of Kyoko for a moment, created five shadow clones. They fanned out, each one taking on a different shinobi. Naruto, having his wits about him, took the opportunity to escape. He gained a few moments' head start, but the ninjas were soon on his tail again. _Shit! _Naruto thought. _There's no way I can get away from them while carrying Kyoko! Shit!! _

"Naruto!" Naruto's ears perked up at the voice. _Neji!? _

"Neji!" he shouted into the trees behind him. There was a moments' pause before Neji yelled to him once again.

"Naruto, head right!" came Neji's cry. Naruto, not taking a moment to think why he had to do this, complied. Predictably, the shinobi followed, now one hundred percent certain that they would be met with a trap. They were right. Shino and Neji jumped out of the underbrush and stood in between Naruto and the shinobi, in a readied stance. Shino's arms were poised, ready to move, Neji's Byakugan was activated, and he was ready to unleash the Gentle Fist. The five shinobi stopped and stood ready. Their opponents may be just children, but one was of the esteemed Hyuuga clan, while the other from the less known but in no way less lethal Aburame clan. One a master of his own eyes, and the other a master of the eyes of those that resided within him. Both, terribly ruthless when angered. However, nothing could be gained by the overly cautious behavior the Igarashi shinobi were demonstrating. They attacked.

Shino and Neji, of course, were ready. Shino released his insects and Neji sprang into action. They were a perfect pair. Neji would attack with close range taijutsu in the form of his Gentle Fist, while Shino would attack from afar with his bugs, while also watching Neji's back.

It was a relatively quick battle. Neji's unique fighting style allowed him to instantly kill three of the opposing shinobi, and Shino's unpredictable bugs were able to smother one to death, and create an imploding barrier around the other. All Naruto had really done, though, was sit on the side, protecting Kyoko with a rather irritated look on his face. When Neji and Shino turned to face him he gave them mock spirited congratulations, to which Neji had raised an eyebrow and Shino just stared. Kyoko was still shaking and they soon all turned their attentions to her. Shino stepped forward and looked her over.

"Kyoko, I think it would be best if you were to go back to the inn," he said. "It's too difficult for the three of us to track down the Igarashis and protect you at the same time." Kyoko looked at him as though he were mad.

"No, I will not go back to the inn!" she screamed. "Not until I find my sister!" Shino sighed resignedly and turned away, shaking his head. Naruto looked form Shino to Kyoko and Neji stood still, as passive as always. Finally, the prodigy moved to Shino and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down," he said. Naruto's head snapped to Neji. He was _touching Shino? _What the hell!? The Uzumaki did not know what to think of this! And, to further demonstrate his stupidity, he couldn't put two and two together when the Aburame raised his own hand up and placed it on the Hyuuga's. His eyes merely widened beyond belief before he shook the thought from his mind. It wasn't as if they were _together_ or anything. Right?

Shino let his hand drop after a moment and the Hyuuga heir removed his hand, a light pink color in his cheeks threatening to deepen.

"Let's at least try to find the others," Shino said. Neji and Naruto nodded. The latter turned to Kyoko and smiled.

"Don't worry Kyoko!" he promised. "We'll find Kimiko, believe it!" Kyoko whimpered and flung her arms around Naruto, breaking down completely. The blonde looked extremely frightened and turned very red, patting the girl's back awkwardly. Neji and Shino exchanged amused looks.

"Thank you all for helping me find my sister," Kyoko choked, finally pulling away from Naruto. "I know it's because of me and my family that you're all putting your lives on the line." Naruto, Neji and Shino were solemnly silent, all the epitome of silence.

"Please, Kyoko," Neji said, closing his eyes in slight defeat. "Do not thank us. We should be thanking you for still placing your trust in us after what we let happen to…to Kiku." Kyoko's body jerked as though Neji had slapped her, and her eyes widened in surprise at him before they shut quickly and the grieving girl turned away to hide her tears. Neji watched her sadly and lowered his eyes, thinking resentfully, his hands tingling slightly from anger and adrenalin. He was going to now put forth his full effort as a Hyuuga. He would spare not an ounce of chakra now, and he would fight to succeed and protect.

_My god! _He thought, smirking slightly. _I'm beginning to sound like Naruto._

* * *

**Sooooo soorrryy it took so long to upload this!! This file totally crashed and I had to rewrite most of what I'd already done!! It took sooo long!! **

**That taught me never to make my computer angry again. I'm sorry computer!! **

**Anyway, please tell me what u think! I'm going to be uploading new chapters to this story much more regularly now. Review please! ;D **


	16. Chapter 16

Sasuke sat lazily by the side of the inn, not quite giving his full attention, but paying enough attention to know when and if Kimiko returned. This was an odd mission. An assassination mission? By now Sasuke knew the details. A clan wants land and another clan wants the same land. Both clans are playing dirty and one small family doesn't want to die, so the Konoha shinobi were expected to kill the entire clan for them. _Sounds about right to me. _Sasuke mused, sighing from boredom. He didn't hear the blind woman approaching him.

"You, who are you?" she asked, pointing a slightly arthritis plagued hand at the Uchiha. The raven haired boy sighed.

"Uchiha Sasuke, you met me before," he replied civilly. The woman nodded and smiled.

"That's right," she said. "You're the one with the smooth face." Sasuke nodded. The woman continued.

"Have you seen Hyuuga Neji?" she asked. Sasuke blinked. Hyuuga Neji?

"I only saw him briefly, but then Aburame Shino dragged him off into the woods and Sai followed," Sasuke said, remembering the past event. "I don't know where he is right now, though. I apologize." The woman waved the apology away.

"Oh, it's alright," she said kindly. "I'll just wait until he gets back." Sasuke heard the woman turn, preparing to walk away, but quickly stopped her, suspecting that what she wanted to tell or give to the Hyuuga was of importance to the situation.

"What do you need to tell him?" Sasuke asked, trying to suppress the slight urgency in his voice. "Maybe I can tell him for you." The woman faced him, all smiles.

"Would you, now? Oh, thank you, dear, that would be fantastic!" she gushed. "Tell him that the flowers grow towards the sun, if you please." Sasuke looked at her. What? The flowers grow towards the sun? Sasuke hadn't the faintest clue of what the woman was speaking, but he suspected it must have something to do with the location of Kimiko. The raven haired Uchiha bowed.

"I'll tell him," he said, trying to hide the annoyance in his voice. The woman looked sweetly at him, but unable to see him. She reached out and put a hand on his face.

"Thank you, dear," she said. "Do be quick. He must know this before nightfall, or he won't be able to see it." She winked and Sasuke slowly grinned. So that's what she meant. Quickly, Sasuke turned and sped off, a slight breeze stirring in his wake.

Kimiko stumbled through the forest path, blindly searching for something she knew could kill her; something she knew had the capacity to more than destroy her, but not caring whatsoever. She needed to do this. Her mind was set, and this, she would see through to the end, even if she lost her life in the process.

Shino, Neji, Naruto and Kyoko tread carefully through the thick trees. Neji's Byakugan was activated and some of Shino's bugs were fanned out, searching the surrounding area. Naruto stood protectively beside Kyoko, his eyes moving right to left and then forward again, watching for any more unwanted shinobi. Luckily, none showed up. Neji deduced that the Igarashi clan hadn't expected the resistance to succeed. But he was wary nonetheless.

Suddenly, Neji stopped. Naruto's eyes snapped to the Hyuuga, while Shino stood tensed and ready. Neji turned to face the way he had come.

"Someone's coming," he said. Shino turned to look in the same direction as the Hyuuga.

"friend or foe?" he asked. Neji was silent, analyzing the chakra of the unknown stranger. It was familiar. And strong. His mouth parted and his eyes widened.

"Is that…Sasuke..?" he asked incredulously. His Byakugan confirmed it, but it was slightly unusual. Naruto turned and watched as none other than Uchiha Sasuke hurried to catch up with them. The Uzumaki grinned as Sasuke approached and he opened his mouth to say something snide, but closed it again, surprised, as Sasuke hurried past him without a glance his way and came to a halt before Neji. The Hyuuga looked at Sasuke without deactivating his Byakugan. Shino, Naruto and Kyoko soon felt awkward and uneasy as the two young prodigies stared at each other. It was very disconcerting. There was an unspoken strain between them and it was made known in the thick tension that now wrought the air.

"Hyuuga, I came with a message from the old lady at the inn," Sasuke announced. Neji arched a fine brow.

"Alright," he replied. Sasuke continued, a slightly rigid tone to his voice.

"She said, and I quote, 'The flowers grow toward the sun." Sasuke looked meaningfully at Neji and the Hyuuga's brows creased as he contemplated the meaning. Then comprehension dawned and his eyebrows shot upward. Sasuke inwardly scowled at Neji's figuring out the meaning so quickly. The Hyuuga nodded and turned away quickly.

"Take Kyoko and find Kiu, Yoshi and the others," Neji ordered. "Then head back to the inn and wait." Naruto grumped and opened his mouth to say something but Sasuke spoke before him.

"I don't think you're in a position to order us around, Hyuuga," he said pointedly. Neji turned and flashed him a very jagged sideways glance.

"Then don't listen," he said icily, shrugging. "I don't think anyone really cares what you do on this mission. Otherwise you would've been chosen to go with us." He turned and sped off. Shino, for a moment, looked as though he was going to follow the Hyuuga, but Sasuke reached out and grabbed the Aburame's arm. Shino tensed at the contact.

"Let him go," Sasuke growled. Shino looked at the irritated Uchiha and thought it best not to argue. Beside him, Naruto's eye twitched with annoyance at having no opportunity to fight the Igarashi clan as Neji had. Kyoko's eyes were flashing from Naruto to Shino to Sasuke, and an expression of nervous tenseness found its way to her face. It seemed everyone was uneasy now.

"Let's go," Shino said firmly. Sasuke scowled and Naruto glowered, but they both complied. Shino carefully took up Kyoko on his back and the shinobi hurried off into the trees.

Neji leapt from tree to tree, making sure to keep the slowly descending disk that was the sun in his sight. His mind moved to Kimiko. The sight of her empty face as she had walked back to the inn carrying her dead sister. The Hyuuga flinched and his mind traveled to Kyoko. She was already distraught at having lost her one sister. And Neji would do everything and anything to keep her from losing the other one.

As he ran and moved the sun sank slowly beneath the horizon. Neji cursed his luck. He began to scan the area with his Byakugan trying to find any familiar energy that might be Kimiko's, but having no luck. Damn! He had no idea she was so good at running away! He knew where she was going but he didn't know where that was. And if he couldn't figure it out, then Kimiko's life could become forfeit as well as Kiku's.

Narrowing his eyes, the Hyuuga sped forward. He would find Kimiko.

Shino jumped from tree to tree, following Sasuke and Naruto, and carrying a very worried Kyoko on his back. He could tell from the way she gripped his shoulders unnecessarily hard. It wasn't hurting him, though. And he had no plans to tell her to loosen her grip. He understood why she was so nervous and he couldn't help but worry with her. Next to wondering if Kimiko was going to be alright, he was also wondering if Neji was going to be alright. As skilled as the Hyuuga was, he was no match for an entire clan. And, with Kimiko there with him, assuming he found her, he would just be handicapped that much more. Shino's eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses. _Neji_. He thought. _You'd better come back alive._

Kimiko's hair was in disarray and was slowly becoming infested with twigs and little leaves. But she didn't care. All that mattered to her now was getting away from whoever was chasing her. She thought for a moment that it might be one of the Konoha nin. She even cracked a bit of a smile when she thought about Neji coming to her rescue. But she knew it wasn't going to be any of them. She knew it was shinobi of the Igarashi clan. Her face twisted with fear and concentration, her hands fisted the lapels of her yukata and she lifted it as far from her feet as possible. Her geta sandals had been kicked from her feet a long ways back and now she ran bare foot, trying desperately to ignore the painful pebbles and roots that kept poking into the soles of her feet. Her eyes clenched shut as she felt her skin pierce and she stumbled over a rock, falling to the ground.

"Oof!" she cried, launching her hands out to break her fall. There was a rock in front of her and she tried to position her hands on the rock so she wouldn't fall further, but her right arm slipped and she tipped sideways. As she hit the ground her arm was bent back and all of her weight was applied. She heard a crack and felt pain as her arm broke. Her eyes widened and then shut and she bit back a scream of pain. Her mind, now filled only with the concept of how much pain Kimiko was in, forgot about trying to run from unknown people who most likely were ninja out to kill her. And in that moment of forgetfulness, the predators caught and surrounded their pray.

Kimiko's heart pounded in her chest, rhythmic with the pulsating throb of her broken arm, and she felt her mouth go dry as unfamiliar shinobi stepped out of the canopy. They were dressed in clothes similar to those the shinobi who killed Kiku wore, and Kimiko knew that they were Igarashis.

Crouching down, the Nagasani tried her best to shrink into the rock, but it didn't work at all and the ninja were now advancing slowly towards her, clearly enjoying how much fear she was in. The girl shook violently and whimpered with every step the offending party took that brought them closer to her. One of them cracked a smile and reached out to Kimiko, when he was close enough. His hands just brushed her skin and she flinched away, wincing, her eyes wide with unadulterated fear. He sniggered.

"Aw, it's okay," he teased. "We're not going to hurt you yet. We're just going to take you on a little trip." He sneered and Kimiko' mouth trembled. The shinobi chuckled and roughly picked her up, slinging her over his shoulder, not careful of her arm. It bent again and Kimiko yelped in pain. The nin laughed, jeering and mocking, and his companions copied him. Kimiko's eyes shut and she felt stinging tears escape her, falling to the ground and soaking into the soft dirt, successfully avoiding the Igarashis' cruelty.

"I'm sorry, Kiku," Kimiko said softly as the shinobi hurried off, incapable of being stopped by her.

Neji watched with narrowed eyes and came to a halt, sensing chakra of other shinobi. He peered through thick tree branches and his breath caught in his throat as he saw an Igarashi ninja approach a fallen Kimiko, her arm broken and in a horrible state, according to the Hyuuga's Byakugan. Neji didn't blink as he heard the shinobi speak mockingly.

"Aw, it's okay," he said, his voice mocking and cruel. "We're not going to hurt you yet. We're just going to take you on a little trip." Neji's brow arched. A little trip? If that was true, then he could follow at a safe distance without having to fight and without having to worry about Kimiko's safety. For the time being, anyway.

Making sure that none of them sensed his chakra, Neji followed the swift shinobi into the trees, unsure of their destination and unsure where it would lead him.

"Sai!" The brunette kunoichi turned and smirked when she saw Naruto, Sasuke, Shino and Kyoko come into view.

"Hey, guys," she said. "Where's Neji?" Naruto looked quickly at Shino as the Aburame spoke calmly.

"He went to retrieve Kimiko," he said. Sai's eyes widened.

"By himself?" she asked incredulously. Shino nodded.

"Sasuke came and said, 'the flower grows towards the sun' and Neji took off," he said simply. "My bugs know his whereabouts and his condition, and it seems as though this conflict is becoming more and more complicated. We may need to contact the Hokage, if worse comes to worse. This may well escalate into an entire clan war." His speech finished, Shino stood still and silent, as was the norm and waited for his words to sink in. Sai's eyes narrowed and her brow creased.

"We should probably tell the Hokage as soon as we can," she said to herself. She was silent for a moment, contemplating what to do next. After her moments thought, she turned to face Shino.

"I'll head back and alert the Hokage," she said firmly. "And I'll stay in the village. If anything goes seriously wrong, send someone to tell me. Probably Sasuke since he is the fastest one here." Sasuke nodded and Naruto 'hmphed'. Shino stepped forward.

"What about Neji?" he asked. Sai looked at him, biting back a smirk.

"Well, you know his location and condition," she said. "If anything horrible happens, go after him. Just make sure you don't tell Naruto."

"Hey!" the Uzumaki whined. Sai smirked and turned away, speeding off into the forest and back towards the village. Shino watched her go. _Chances are._ He thought. _We probably won't see her until we finish the mission._ It worried him a little, but not as much as the prospect of having the Hokage's help relieved him. He turned back to Naruto and said firmly, "Let's get Kyoko, Kiu and Yoshi back to the inn. Now." Naruto nodded begrudgingly and turned to get the Nagasani parents safely back to the inn, Sasuke following. Shino hung back for a bit, Kyoko standing beside him, not sure of whom to follow. She hesitantly placed a hand on his shoulder and tried not to flinch away when he turned sharply towards her.

"D-do you think Kimiko is going to be alright?" she asked timidly. Shino blinked behind his sunglasses. Letting out a slow, controlled breath that was almost a sigh, the Aburame walked towards her and took her hand off his shoulder, clasping it tightly between his.

"Don't worry too much about that," he said in a reassuring way. "Neji's a brilliant shinobi. He'll bring Kimiko back. I promise you." Kyoko looked up at him and smiled awkwardly. _I hope you're right, Aburame Shino, I hope you're right…_

Neji's sharp intake of breath when he saw where he was turned out to be, regrettably, the one thing that gave him away. The Igarashi shinobi turned and their eyes widened at the realization of the fact that they were pursued by a child whose presence was unbeknownst to them the entire time. Kimiko's eyes widened and she cried out as Neji emerged from the trees, the essence of calamity and composure, his eyes an intimidating sharp silver color, his face outlined by the veins that were made visible in the activating of his Byakugan. He walked towards them and stopped. They watched him apprehensively. He looked them all over carefully, silently. The one holding Kimiko let her fall to the ground before him and grabbed a kunai from his kunai pouch. Positioning it by her neck he called to Neji, "What business do you have with the Igarashis?" Neji remained the epitome of passive indifference as he gestured elegantly to Kimiko.

"I came to retrieve Nagasani Kimiko," he said simply, his voice strong and firm. Kimiko's heart quickened, though whether it was because of Neji or the knowledge that the man behind her could kill her in one swift movement, she wasn't sure. The Igarashi shinboi smirked.

"Then try to take her from us," he challenged. Neji shook his head.

"Now that would simply be foolish," he replied. "As skilled as I am, I would never be so stupid as to attack you right on the edge of your homefront. No, I believe we can negotiate some sort of trade. I have great knowledge of general clan politics and I should think that your head of clan should be fond of a good bartyr every now and then." His proposition finished, Neji stood and waited for the shinobi he now deemed incredibly stupid, to finish discussing amonst themselves.

When they finally turned back to face him, the one who spoke before stepped forward, grabbing Kiimiko and dragging her up onto her feet.

"Fine," he said. "We'll allow you to talk to our head of clan, but you'll have to stay away from this one-" Here he jerked Kimiko forward, her broken arm cracking further. She winced and Neji had to control his urge to run over and kill the one who held her. "-And you'll have as long as he gives you. As soon as you're finished you become our enemy once again. Keep that in mind." Neji nodded and allowed the Igarashi shinobi to lead him into an almost doujo-like area. It was similar to the Hyuuga Compound, it had training areas, some for physical training and sparring and others for meditation. There were rooms, no doubt where the Igarashis slept and there were other doors here and there that obviously led to places like kitchens, more rooms etc. Neji looked around warily, his Byakugan deactivated since he was in the compound of another clan, and ignored the heatd and hateful glares he received from the Igarashis. He was led through the open and exposed part of the compound and was soon taken into a covered hallway, where everyone stopped and removed their shoes on a mat by the entrance.

He followed the shinobi to a very nice sliding door and followed them through it. He saw a man sitting on the floor in an advanced meditation position and he couldn't help but notice that this man looked very much like Hiashi. Firm features, sharp angles, defined muscles, and the long hair. Although, this man appeared to be slightly older. His brunette hair was graying and he was slowly developing wrinkles underneath his eyes. Another thing about this man that was different from Hiashi was the permanent scowl on this man's face. It looked as though he could never smile, and if he ever came close it would be a smirk or a sneer. Neji couldn't say he liked the appearance of this man, but the title as the Head of the clan suited him.

The shinobi approached and bowed low, going down to their knees and dragging Kimiko down with them. Neji followed suit and waited patiently for the man to notice them.

"Why are you here, Hyuuga?" Neji looked up towards the menacing voice and saw that the speaker was standing before him, towering over him and looking down on him. Repositioning himself so that he was on his knees before the man of power in front of him, Neji looked up into his cruel deep green eyes.

"I have come to negotiate some sort fo trade for Kimiko," he said. "And perhaps, if I can get the means to convince you, end the conflict between the Igarashis and the Nagasanis." The man looked at him with raised brow and smirked. He turned and gestured for the shinobi to leave them. One of them made to take Kimiko, but the head of clan stopped him, and the shinobi scurried out of the room with the others, so that Neji, Kimiko and the intimidating man were the only ones left in the room.

"You believe you have the means to end this quarrel?" the man asked mockingly. Neji only looked at him.

"I believe every man has his price," he said, allowing his tone to match that of the man's. "There must be something other than land that would pique your interest and drive away all ambition you had for acquiring the upper hand in this fight." Neji looked imploringly at the man, who's face soon became a sneer.

"There is, I suppose," he said slowly. "But first I need to know what your Hokage will give me." he turned back to Neji and the Hyuuga saw a gleam of something that he labeled as insanity in the man's eyes. He would have to be careful. This man had a lot of power and bringing this fight to a halt would be very difficult. Neji opened his mouth to respond but the response rephrased itself somewhere in his throat.

"First, I think you should say what it is you want," the Hyuuga said seriously. "Then we'll know where we stand." The man's sneer, if it was possible, grew. He fixed Neji with a look that made the prodigy intensely uncomfortable.

"Very well," he said. "What I want that I know the Godaime can give me is something that could guarantee me a place of power in this pathetic hierarchy of a village." He paused, no doubt for dramatic effect and waited for Neji to question further. When the Hyuuga remained silent the man continued undaunted.

"What I want that could induce me into leaving that pathetic clan and their land alone is the body of a Hyuuga."

* * *

**OMG! Evil bastard...**

**Sorry it took so long, I was figuring out how to write this chptr so it wouldn't suck, and I was concentrating on other fics.**

**Tell me what u think and how the fic is going. Review please!!**


End file.
